Two groups of Vanderbilt nursing students and faculty spent spring break in Latin America. One — a cohort from the Enhancing Community and Population Health course led by instructor Shelza Rivas,DNP, WHNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, and assistant professor Natasha McClure, DNP, CPNP —traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, to assess Primeros Pasos, a rural community clinic for which they would plan a new health care delivery model. The second, consisting of Psychiatric-Mental Health (PMHNP)student Alexandra Taylor, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care (AGPCNP) student Helana Anderjack Garrett and instructor Susan Andrews, DNP, CPN, were part of a medical mission team headed to San Eduardo, Ecuador, through Nashville’s Center for Contemplative Justice.
Two groups, comprising two sides of advanced practice nursing: one, assessment and planning; the other, hands-on clinical practice. Both trips involved hard work, language barriers, cultural differences, comprehension of overwhelming need and being embraced by the warm, welcoming people they served.
Photos by Susan Andrews and Shelza Rivas, DNP’17, MSN’15, BA’12