The University of North Carolina Center for Infectious Disease began conducting HIV research in Malawi in 1990. Faculty and graduate students from the UNC Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy have worked on this project for nearly two decades, but it wasn’t until this year that an undergraduate student was selected to go. More importantly, this summer marks the first time a nursing student will be included.
Undergraduate nursing student Amber Draughon will work on the UNC-Malawi Project on the ground from July 27-Aug. 20. While there, she will split her time between research and clinical work under the supervision of the clinic’s director of nursing, focusing her efforts on pediatric and maternity units. She said her activities there will most closely resemble those of a nurse aide in the United States – fluid management, catheterizations and all personal care.
According to SON associate dean for academic affairs Gwen Sherwood, Draughon’s presence on the Project will provide real world experience in interdisciplinary work, as well as experience in global health.
“Amber will have first-hand clinic experience in working with patients who face serious health challenges,” Sherwood said. “We have worked closely with Cheryl Marcus, a nurse who is the program manager for the Project’s AIDS clinical trials. She is a role model for working in global health, and she is helping guide Amber’s project.”
Sherwood said the SON will host three nurses from Malawi in Chapel Hill in June to learn women’s health assessment. The goal, she said, is that establish an on-going relationship.
Draughon said she hopes her nursing training will help her add a different perspective to the education and information her UNC colleagues give the patients they treat.
“As a nurse, I teach a patient how to implement and incorporate health information into their home life and help them understand how it can work for them,” she said. “But I’ll be working with patients who are far more acutely ill than those we see in clinic here, and I’m really hoping that they’ll be teaching me more than I’m teaching them.”
Draughon plans to write a Blog while she works in Malawi. Stay tuned for more information on how to follow her writings and view her pictures from Malawi.
