In November, two members of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at
Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies traveled to
Honduras to provide health care services.
Kathryn Ellis, MSN, CANP, program director, and Abbie Burke, RN, a current
student, spent one week in Comayagua, Honduras with the Virginia Hospital
Center Medical Brigade.
The brigade is non-profit, non-denominational organization that sponsors
annual, week-long humanitarian health care mission trips to Honduras, in
collaboration with the Lions Club of Comayagua. Services include primary
care, eye care, hearing services, physical therapy, and surgery. While there,
Ellis and Burke worked as providers with the primary care team.
The two are also involved year-round with the Remote Village Project, a
community health project affiliated with the medical brigade. The project,
which started in 2006, is a reproducible model for providing sustainable,
community-based primary health care services in rural Honduras.
2007
This fall, two South African visitors have traveled to
Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health
Studies for a three-week stay.
Zanele Penelope Mlaba, a tutor at St. Mary’s Hospital
College of Nursing in Mariannhill, Durban, and Zukiswa
Benedictor Khumalo, a nurse practitioner at St. Mary’s
Hospital, came to campus as part of “Nurses SOAR!,”
a federally funded program to build HIV/AIDS nursing
workforce in South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
Kevin Mallinson, assistant professor of nursing at NHS,
serves as principal investigator for “Nurses SOAR!” and
is hosting the visitors.
Since 2006, Mallinson; Amanda Liddle, assistant professor
of nursing and project director; Michael Relf, chair of the
Department of Nursing; Irene Jillson, assistant professor of
nursing and project evaluator; and NHS faculty and students
have participated in the grant.
The two South African nurses came to learn about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care services in the
United States. They are attending clinical services at Georgetown University Hospital, the Inova Health System,
and the Whitman-Walker Clinic.
In addition, they will engage in learning exercises to build their skills in teaching, mentorship, and nursing
leadership to be better able to address the needs of individuals at-risk for, or infected with, HIV/AIDS in South
Africa.
They are also attending the American Public Health Association’s annual conference in Washington D.C. and the
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) annual conference in Orlando, Fla.
At the ANAC conference, Mlaba will present with three recent Georgetown nursing graduates on their
collaborative research project examining “Ethical Issues and HIV/AIDS.”
“Nurses SOAR!” has received more than $2 million in federal grant funding from the President’s Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Michael Relf, Chair, Department of Nursing
Newly Minted Undergraduate Alumni Continue Perfect Record
Washington, D.C.—Michael Relf, Ph.D., R.N., chair of the
Department of Nursing at Georgetown University School of
Nursing & Health Studies (NHS), recently announced the
successful results of the NCLEX-RN, the national licensure
exam for nurses administered by the National Council of
State Boards of Nursing.
“One hundred percent of the nursing undergraduate alumni
who finished their Georgetown degrees in May 2007 passed
the national exam on their first attempt,” Relf said. The
perfect pass rate matches the success of the groups of
nursing students who finished their degrees in May 2006 and December 2006.
“The department’s rigorous academic and clinical program prepares graduates for success in their professional
careers,” said Relf. “Our 61 newest graduates continue a tradition of excellence at Georgetown. Their perfect
NCLEX-RN results are a milestone, as well as launching point to a distinguished career in the classroom, the
clinic, and the community.”
Since 2004, according to Relf, 97.5 percent of the undergraduates have passed NCLEX-RN on the first attempt.
During that same period, he said, the national mean first-time pass rate was approximately 88 percent.
Several faculty members from the NHS Department of Nursing, including Relf, co-authored a peer-reviewed
article on the national exam. The piece, entitled “Ensuring NCLEX-RN Success for First-Time Test-Takers,”
appeared in the September-October 2006 issue of The Journal of Professional Nursing.
“Our educational program is grounded in the strong liberal arts tradition of Georgetown University,” said Colleen
Norton, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor of nursing and one of the authors on the journal article. “The
successful trajectory on the NCLEX-RN involves curriculum evaluation and development, extensive faculty
participation, review programs related to the national exam, and innovative coursework.”
