ESTAR News
Belize May 2024: Pediatric Critical Care Training
This month Professor Melissa Geist and Associate Professor Jennifer Mabry of Tech’s
Whitson-Hester School of Nursing will return to Belize in Central America. May’s health
outreach initiative focuses on Pediatric Critical Care Training for area health professionals (American Heart Association Certified). The trip follows
their December 2023 program providing Adult Critical Care Training. (see details below)
“I so appreciate the efforts of Bobby Taylor in University Advancement and the generous donor who made this and December’s outreach trip possible,” said Geist. “The Cookeville-based company, STAT CPR is continuing to provide staff and equipment for delivering the training.”
"Our programs are elevated and expanded with the assistance and confidence of individuals and groups within the community," she added.
Tech Nursing Students Travel to Belize for Clinical Experiences
Professor Melissa Geist has led more than 10 nursing-training outreach visits to Belize,
a country on Central America’s northeast coast. She and Associate Professor Jennifer
Mabry lead a group of graduate and undergraduate students, during the December 2023
holiday break, to the village of Punta Gorda continuing these valuable hands-on clinical
experiences.
In partnership with the local hospital, students worked in the areas of emergency medicine, surgery, and obstetrics. Undergraduates were paired with grad students as they interacted with the staff and patients.
“The array of experiences our students have on these types of trips are not only medically-based, but also geographical, cultural, and personal,” said Jennifer Mabry. “The environment may be different, but compassionate healthcare for people is universal.”
Students also visited an orphanage providing wellness checks, hearing and vision screenings,
and vaccinations for the facility’s children.
This clinical outreach trip included assistance from a Cookeville-based firm, START CPR (safety techniques and response training), offering Advanced Cardiac Life Support training for 20 of the local healthcare providers.
The history of medical and health education outreach services provided by the university’s nursing faculty and students directly inform and support their regional program, ESTAR Sanos – Be Healthy serving rural and Hispanic communities in the Upper Cumberland.
“We are thrilled to be able to build on our prior experiences in the field and share these resources and services with under served communities,” said Melissa Geist. “Our students have the opportunity to participate in a range of unique programs and outreach events.”
For more information, please email behealthy@tntech.edu.
ESTAR Sanos
Regional Press Release
Winter 2023
Read More
Dr. Melissa Geist works with children at a Plaza Mariachi event.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
Highlights ESTAR Sanos | News Watch, November 2022
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