A Nigerian-born faculty member at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing has just returned from a life-saving educational mission to her home country.
Dr. Elsie Jolade, specialty director of Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist and Doctor of Nursing Practice Programs, traveled in January to Ondo City, in Ondo state, Nigeria, to conduct a Basic Life Support training session for student nurses at the University of Medical Sciences. She also donated 100 copies of the American Heart Association Basic Life Support and Heartsaver Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation Automated External Defibrillator manuals, mannequins, and a defibrillator training device, to the Faculty of Nursing.
The trip was only the latest medical mission to the school for Dr. Jolade, who began her nursing education at the Ondo State School of Nursing in Akure, Nigeria, now a part of the university. She has worked with the university for a decade to prepare healthcare professionals to address the urgent needs of the state.
“It is my pleasure to train these bright and resourceful nursing students on the latest lifesaving techniques, to give back to the institution and country that gave me so much,” Dr. Jolade said.
Students practice CPR.
Founded in 2015 in response to alarming rates of maternal and child mortality and other health indicators in the state of Ondo, as well as a shortage of medical professionals in greater Nigeria, the university began enrolling students in 2016-17 and has developed programs in the health sciences, dentistry, medicine, nursing science, and midwifery.
Dr. Jolade and her husband have collected medical books to bring to the school; she has collaborated with the Ondo Unity Forum in the Americas to provide free American Heart Association-based training in Basic Life Support and CPR for emergency cardiovascular care to dozens of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers there.
Her noted career as a humanitarian has led Dr. Jolade to receive many awards, including having been named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, one of the profession’s highest honors.
About the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing
The Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing’s mission is to cultivate collaborative nurse leaders promoting wellness and championing health equity in diverse local and global communities through excellence in education, research, scholarship, and advocacy. Its vision is to shape nurse leaders advancing health equity for a thriving, healthier world.
