ANN ARBOR—Three University of Michigan nursing students will get a real-world learning experience this summer as they head to Honduras for a medical mission.

Joanne Motino Bailey, Lisa Harrison, and Rachel Stevens are volunteering at a primary care health center in Morazan, Yoro, Honduras. Bailey, who expects her degree as a family nurse practitioner in August, will provide primary care for adults, children and pregnant women. Harrison and Stevens will act as collaborators, assisting Honduran medical staff with procedures and patient care.

Bailey and Harrison are no strangers to health care in underserved areas of the world. Five years ago, Bailey spent three years in this same area of Honduras working mostly with AIDS patients in hospice and home care. Some of her time was also spent at the Morazan Health Clinic. Bailey originally planned on attending medical school, but this experience changed her life. “While I was there, I realized the nursing model of health care fit my goals more closely than medicine.” It was then she decided to become a nurse practitioner.

Harrison’s experience in the Peace Corps changed her life, too. Volunteering in West Africa, she decided a nursing degree was much more beneficial than a degree as a microbiologist. She was inspired to see the nursing model at work and knew then she wanted to provide health care to the underserved in the United States.

Both women feel international experience is very enriching for nurses. “As a global community in some ways we’re getting closer and closer, ” says Bailey, “but we’re also still oblivious to how others live. Anything we can do to expand that understanding is beneficial.” “When you’re somewhere else you learn an awful lot. Learn what we have here in the United States. Learn a lot about frugality, resources and making what you’ve got last,” says Harrison.

Bailey is fluent in Spanish but Harrison isn’t. After finals in April, she’ll take a crash course in the language. She feels knowing other languages is very beneficial to the nursing community. “How can we provide the best possible care if we can’t speak our patient’s language? Patient outcome is based on the rapport we develop with them and what we can pick up.”

When they return, Bailey and Harrison say they’ll encourage other nursing students to get international experiences. Harrison will include her experiences in a research project, while Bailey intends to design a seminar, “Understanding Health Care in the Developing World.” Both hope to raise the cultural awareness among students and how it relates to the health care community.

EDITORS: If you would like more information of Joanne Motino Bailey, Lisa Harrison or Rachel Stevens and their trip to Honduras, contact Lesley Harding at (248) 360-9415 or lionles@aol.com. Pictures will be available upon their return in late August.

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nursinglionles@aol.com