Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, October 19, 2001

Nursing delegation needs 
medical supplies for Honduras 
orphans, families, HIV victims

A delegation from the Intercollegiate College of Nursing/WSU College of Nursing is continuing its mission to help promote health and treat sick, dying and HIV-infected children and adults at the Rancho Santa Fe Orphanage and people from communities near Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The orphanage is located about 45 minutes north of Tegucigalpa.

Lorna Schumann, a College of Nursing professor, will return to the orphanage and Tegucigalpa Oct. 22 for a third time to provide health care services to residents of the overcrowded orphanage.

Schumann, accompanied by a team of five family nurse practitioners and registered nurses, will spend the majority of the 10-day journey treating patients affected by child abuse, depression, diabetes, infections, asthma, dehydration, dengue fever, cancer, ulcers and tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.

"Our time is spent providing urgent, emergent and essential health care services to orphans, families and the community," Schumann said. "The team has a goal of treating and assessing the pressing health needs of 50 to 100 patients per day in the external clinic site at the orphanage."

They also plan to practice two days in a remote site, seeing up to 1,000 patients for various health screenings, treatment and assessment. The complexity of the health care needs requires a full battery of medications and medical supplies.

"We aren’t able to easily purchase the supplies in Honduras, so we are gathering the supplies we can take with us," Schumann said.

The entire community is in desperate need of medical attention and human outreach services. "This is an excellent opportunity for our skilled nurses and students to help a population in need and to treat health conditions that would otherwise go unchecked," she said.

The delegation will stay at the Rancho Santa Fe Orphanage and focus on a full range of health care assessments, nutrition and primary care services for the 600 children at the orphanage and through the medical brigade clinics. Its work will center on primary patient care services and teaching nutrition, first aid, pediatric CPR and HIV awareness.

The team, departing from Spokane Oct. 22 and returning Nov. 2, will be loaded with donated and purchased medical supplies, clothing, toys and emergency equipment. The toys and clothing will be distributed to the hundreds of patients seen every day. Although each member is paying their own way to Honduras, each also was asked to bring something to distribute to the people they will come in contact with.

The most needed medicines and medical supplies include antibiotics, oral medications for diabetes, eye medications, sunglasses, vitamins, antidepressants, long-acting nitroglycerine, inhalers for asthma, antifungal creams and any antiulcer medications. Donations can be delivered through Oct. 19 at the College of Nursing campus, located at 2917 W. Fort George Wright Dr. in Spokane.

The team also includes family nurse practitioner Jenny Edminster (third trip); May baccalaureate graduate Trena Hamlin (second trip); nursing student Warren Jones (second trip), and family nurse practitioner students Mary Lou Bradbury and Leslie Ruch.