“Not all who wander are lost”.  Nursing has given me amazing opportunities to travel throughout the world.  In December of 2016, I was invited to take a short contract in Anchorage, AK.  Life in Alaska is amazing!  The Native Alaskan culture lives off the land and is full of rich traditions.    Those who live outside of the cities live in villages of 100-500+ people.  There are Health Aides that manage their health care and overall wellness.  When they require more interventions, a person may travel over 500 miles to receive care.  Sometimes it means that they travel by snow machine, sleds pulled by dogs and/or are medevac’d to a facility to receive care that is needed.  Resources are not as abundant as they are in the lower 48 states.  Sometimes this could be challenging.

Nurses, along with other healthcare professionals, have a very important role.  To provide holistic care, it is imperative to know medically what is needed, but also to understand their culture.  There are unique scenarios that make our job as nurses a little more difficult.  For example, in labor and delivery, a woman may be transported from her village to stay in patient housing for the last part of her pregnancy due to a risk factor.  She may be delivering without the support of her significant other and/or family and friends.  We only get to be with her for a few days in the hospital before she travels back to her village.  We, as nurses, have a very small window to make an impact. 

The nurses in Alaska have very little opportunity to attend conferences that fine tune their practice.  It is very expensive to travel to the lower 48 in addition to the expense of a conference.  One of the topics identified, across the spectrum of care, is education on End of Life Care.  We receive very little education in nursing school about care at the bedside as well as care of ourselves when dealing with grief.  The curriculum that we are bringing to Alaska provides nurses with different modules focused on just that!  The program is designed to be sustaining.  It is a “train the trainer” conference.   Attendees will be able to use the information to teach in the universities, the Health Aides, and other medical professionals.  But we can’t do it without your help!  So please consider the ways to help below:

1.        Hit the “donate now” button and donate towards this project.  I have the commitment of 2 educators in addition to myself that will lead the two-day conference on August 10th and 11th.  The money will be used to provide all the tools necessary for attendees to use ongoing (binder of slides, CD’s and other resources).  It will also support getting the 2 educators to Alaska.  If there are any extra funds available, they will be used to help nurses attend the conference.

2.       PLEASE share this project with others.  If you are part of an organization, company, club, church etc that likes to support projects like this, please share!  Even just forwarding to others in your email or social media accounts will help us!  No donation is too small!

3.       Donate to honor a Nurse (nurse, nursing student, aide, etc).  You can honor a nurse by donating in his/her name.  Contribute at least $25 and send an email to [email redacted]. Please include the name of the person and where to send his/her certificate.

This is a passion of mine…and it is a much-needed project!  When I have been asked “WHY” am I doing this… I simply answer… For the Love of Nursing!

Thank you in advance for your time and generosity!

Susan Meskis, RN