Clinical nurse mentorship model at partners in health (PIH)

The clinical nurse mentoring program at Partners In Health (PIH) has been successfully implemented at hospital sites in Rwanda and Haiti. Due to deficits in pre-service education, lack of integration of didactic education with clinical practice and sparse continuing education, there are significant challenges for nurses and nursing care. We identified gaps in the hospital in nurses' knowledge, skills and adherence to evidence-based guidelines, which can lead to poor quality of care and patient outcomes. We applied the clinical mentorship model to each specific country's context and created a new Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE) role for two hospitals in both Rwanda and Haiti. The role was new for all facilities and the goal was focused on bringing clinically relevant and evidenced based education and skill building directly to the bedside. The U.S. nurses who are the clinical mentors to the new CNE's operate in the PIH model of accompaniment which values cultural humility and solidarity. The clinical mentors in Rwanda are from an innovative collaboration with Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In Haiti, the CNE's receive ongoing mentorship from both Haiti based and transnational nurses. By building in-country capacity and expertise in both general nursing skills and in speciality areas, we are decreasing reliance on expatriate nurses. The CNE model has been embraced in both the Rwandan and Haitian hospitals and there are plans to expand the model to other sites in both countries as well as to other PIH countries including Malawi and Lesotho.