 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Judith L. Wold, PhD, RN, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322, 404 712 8428, jwold@emory.edu
In both 2002 and 2003, student nurses and faculty from the Emory University School of Nursing had the opportunity to visit the Country of Cuba to study its health care system under the auspices of the organization “Medical Education in Cooperation with Cuba” (MEDICC). Health care in Cuba is a large enterprise. In 1995 there were 800,000 health care workers including doctors, nurses, technicians and hospital personnel for a population of 11 million people. However, information about nursing and nursing education in the country of Cuba is not well documented in the literature. Nurses participate in the Primary Health Care System in Cuba and this system is quite impressive in terms of patient outcomes. Last year, unlike many countries in the Caribbean and despite the persisting embargo, infant mortality rates in Cuba were less than 9 per 1000. What is Primary Health Care like in this island country, how are nurses educated and what role do they play in the Cuban Health Care System? This presentation will give an overview of the health care system in Cuba, including information about nurses and the nursing profession, how this system differs from that in the former Soviet countries and how students responded to their introduction to the Cuban healthcare system.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Nursing Education, International Health
Related Web page: www.nursing.emory.edu/LCCIN/
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.