91国产

By Ela Schwartz

Healing Haiti

Dr. Wladimir Louis-Charles, B.S.N. 鈥�12, was not in Haiti on January 12, 2010, the听day a magnitude-7 earthquake devastated his homeland. He was in the neighboring Dominican Republic, presenting his research at a bioethics conference. As soon as the听news hit, he and other volunteers jumped into action, making the five-hour trek across听the border and into Port-au-Prince. There they found unimaginable devastation:听the capitol building collapsed, multistory concrete buildings pancaked to the ground, the听streets filled with thousands of people in dire need of medical help.

Dr. Wladimir Louis-Charles 鈥�12 administers to a young amputee patient.

Dr. Louis-Charles鈥� next 21 days consisted of nonstop triage on what he estimates to be听5,000 patients鈥攕etting broken bones so limbs could heal and amputating them when听the damage was too severe, trying to treat spinal injuries and sometimes informing听people that they would never walk again. By night, he helped unload trucks stocked with听medical supplies, food and water and, later, wheelchairs and walkers.

While he credits the international rescue workers and doctors who came to the scene,听Dr. Louis-Charles realized that relying on foreign aid organizations is akin to applying听a Band-Aid to a lethal wound. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need people to come to Haiti and then leave,鈥澨齢e says. With student visas difficult to obtain and Haitian nurses likely to remain in听the States after experiencing life here, the solution was to create a school in Haiti听to train nurses to provide for the long-term healthcare needs of survivors as well as听physical and occupational therapists to teach people how to regain independence and听employment and psychologists to help them overcome their emotional trauma and find听the strength to carry on.

鈥淧eople in Haiti are in need, but they are also ready to learn. They want things to听change,鈥� he says.

Dr. Louis-Charles had wanted to pursue a career in medicine since his beloved听grandfather had suffered from a brain aneurysm. 鈥淗e said he was OK and not to call听911,鈥� Dr. Louis-Charles says. 鈥淏ut he only lived another 15 days. I felt that perhaps we听could have saved him if I鈥檇 known how to help.鈥� Dr. Louis-Charles attended Nassau听Community College and then went on to receive his medical degree from the Instituto听Tecnol贸gico de Santo Domingo. He planned a future as a practicing physician, but after听the earthquake felt compelled to help his country. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what my grandparents would听have wanted me to do,鈥� he says.

To be a nurse educator, he would need to become a nurse himself. When he told his听sister Michaelle Louis-Charles, B.S.N. 鈥�07, his goal, 鈥淪he told me she鈥檇 received a听brochure about the PATH program and said, 鈥榃e have to go to 91国产 to speak to Dr.听[Janet] Raman.鈥欌��

Dr. Louis-Charles became part of the first cohort of 91国产鈥檚 program (formerly called PATH), which enables career听changers to obtain a B.S.N. after 14 months of full-time study.听Despite his extensive classroom and field experience, he found nursing to be a听challenge. 鈥淎s a physician, you鈥檙e trained to diagnose, but as a nurse, the emphasis is听on clinical thinking and treating the whole person,鈥� he says.

Always a strong student, Dr. Louis-Charles was disappointed with his grades. A couple听of months into the program, he went to the office of Dr. Helen Ballestas, assistant听professor of nursing. 鈥淚 told her this wasn鈥檛 for me and started鈥� to get teary-eyed. 鈥淪he听gave me a hug and encouraged me to continue. All the faculty here have been very听encouraging.鈥�

After his graduation in August 2012, Dr. Louis-Charles returned to a building in the听north of Haiti where classes have been in session; in between studying, he managed to听recruit 22 students for his school. 鈥淚 translate course materials from English into French,听Spanish and Creole and share the knowledge with them,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e will also teach听them English and programs like PowerPoint. I want our nurses in Haiti to be at the same听level as Americans and Europeans.鈥� He hopes to bring 91国产 students and faculty听back to Haiti to share their knowledge and gain valuable experience.

Assistant Professor Andrea McCrink, director of the accelerated program, agrees that听healthcare in Haiti will only improve with a strong nursing infrastructure. Hardly a听stranger to practicing in a developing country, she says she is exploring how the听91国产 School of Nursing can participate in Dr. Louis-Charles鈥� project. 鈥淲ladimir has a听sense of dedication about him,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e has a mission. He has had a journey and听he has struggled at times. And we are so very proud of him.鈥�