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"Griego: Sister reflects on life's many journeys" By Tina Griego Denver Post Columnist Click here to read
Twenty Years of Nursing Education in Viet Nam by Sara Jarrett
Sara Jarett is professor of nursing at Regis University, was one of the group that rescued Vietnamese orphans at the end of the war in 1975, and with her husband adopted and raised one these orphans. She currently serves as a board member of Bridging Hope and here shares the story of her ongoing work to assist with the training of nurses in Viet Nam.
For 20 years, the Friendship Bridge Nurses Group (FBNG) has partnered with Vietnamese educators and policymakers to advance the profession of nursing in Viet Nam. High quality nursing education is a vital component of a strong health care infrastructure, and Viet Nam’s health care system urgently needs professional nurses. In collaboration with our Vietnamese colleagues, FBNG has developed Viet Nam’s first ever Master’s in Nursing Program. The curriculum meets international standards, while being culturally competent and directly applicable to the health realities of today’s Viet Nam.
The FBNG is part of the larger Friendship Bridge Organization, a 501 (c) (3) non-governmental organization, founded in 1988. Based upon an assessment of the status of health care, the founders of the organization were appalled to find ancient equipment, little or no medicines, and an overwhelming number of people suffering from preventable diseases. Friendship Bridge began its grassroots medical relief project in 1989. The effort grew, and in the spring of 1990 Friendship Bridge sent the largest single shipment of medical relief to Viet Nam from the United States since 1975.
In 1991, a Friendship Bridge delegation of three nurses, which I led, traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to make an assessment of nursing education programs and the nursing conditions in hospitals. We found that despite poor physical conditions in the hospitals and minimal educational resources, the Vietnamese nurse administrators and educators envisioned a new way of nursing and were committed to its development. Following this trip, the Friendship Bridge Nurses Group was founded, with Kathy Whitney and myself as the initial Steering Committee members.
By 1995, a third nurse educator, Faye Hummel, joined the Steering Committee. FBNG sponsored several delegations of nurses to go to Viet Nam to conduct educational in-service presentations, clinical teaching, and consultation for hospitals in the Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Thap Province areas. As Friendship Bridge’s overall mission gradually shifted from providing emergency relief and health care in Viet Nam, to a very successful program of micro loans initially in Viet Nam and now in Guatemala, the Friendship Bridge Nurses Group began operating semi-independently, but always under the auspices of its parent group and with the full support of its governing structure.
Friendship Bridge Nurse educators have volunteered in Viet Nam for the past 20 years, sending volunteer faculty from universities across America to teach nursing courses and mentor nursing professionals. Post-Baccalaureate Certificate courses were offered in both the north and south of Viet Nam beginning in 1995 and continued for nine years. Our success was founded on relationship building at all levels. FBNG has ongoing relationships with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Viet Nam Nurses Association.
FBNG has been proud to work alongside our Vietnamese colleagues, especially the Viet Nam Nurses Association, and we have made progress: In 1991, Viet Nam had no Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs—now there are at least ten. In 2001, when we began the planning of the next project, a Masters Degree in Nursing in Viet Nam, there were approximately 40 nurses with a master’s degree in all of Viet Nam and only 32 of those holding a degrees in nursing. To obtain their degrees, these nurses had to travel to other parts of Asia. This project represents a unique partnership of a non-governmental organization, a Vietnamese University, and the Vietnamese government. It is a collaborative model for providing The Masters in Nursing Program at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City. The goals of the program include graduating a sufficient number of nurses with advanced degrees to build long-term sustainability and establish an educational structure where BSN, MSN and doctoral programs are the norm. There are very few nurses with master’s degrees, and nine of those graduated in 2009 and 17 in 2010. They are qualified to teach the BSN curriculum, but they will need support in order to gain confidence and experience.
We recognize that it will take time to build the critical mass of MSN nursing graduates able to go on to pursue doctorates, but in the meantime they will be making a significant contribution to the education of a growing number of highly skilled, highly educated BSN graduates—the building blocks of a modern nursing profession. FBNG has agreed to continue this collaborative agreement for two more cohorts of students, the next group to start the program in the fall of 2011.
A core tenet of our successful collaborative relationship has always been that we work within the host country’s educational and health systems to effect gradual, culturally appropriate change, rather than attempting to impose our values and methods. Our visiting faculty work within the university’s structure and with the support of the university faculty.
Other News...
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Sr. Sen Receives Regis’ Humanitarian Award -
Since 1958, the Regis Alumni Association has honored distinguished graduates of Regis University and Loretto Heights College through special recognition. The outstanding alumni award recipients are recognized for demonstrating excellence in their respective fields and for exemplifying the Regis University mission of being “Leaders in Service of Others".
The Humanity Award
Sister Sen Nguyen O.S.F., RC ’89.When she was still a child, Sr. Nguyen moved with her parents from North to South Vietnam. As the war in Viet Nam ended in 1975, she was separated from her mother (who was rescued by the American ship from Vung Tau to Guam) and came to reside in Denver. After discovering her mother, her only living relative, had safely fled the country, she also escaped and found refuge, first in Malaysia and eventually was reunited with her mother in Denver. It is worth noting that her scout’s skills with the compass were responsible for the boat’s safe arrival in Malaysia after it had run out of fuel.
She studied first at a community college and Metropolitan State College, then entered the Marycrest Franciscan Sisters and was sent with other novices to Regis for further training. She majored in sociology and religious studies and graduated in 1989. Later she completed a master’s in education and fine arts at University of Colorado at Denver. Sr. Nguyen is widely known in the Denver area for her art (both photography and painting) and for her humanitarian work.
In 1991, Sen initiated a fair trade program to create job opportunities for under privileged women of Vietnam, many of them suffering from polio. To further serve the women and children, in 2007 she started Bridging Hope, a not-for-profit organization, to help fund projects that create opportunities for the poor women and children of Vietnam, who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Bridging Hope is funded in part by the sale of original artwork and hand-crafted items produced by such women -- things Sr. Sen brings back from regular trips to Vietnam. She is convinced
that “telling the Vietnamese tale” will be her life’s work. In these tough economic times, funding for nonprofits is always a struggle. Sen is now pursuing individual and corporate partners and grant initiatives to give her nonprofit a more stable base. Many Regis students, faculty and staff have helped her in this work.
Sen's acceptance remarks:
First, thank you for having me here today and for the honor you have given me. I would also like to begin by thanking my Franciscan Sisters for allowing me to have Jesuit training at Regis during my initial formation years, and then to continue here and to complete a BA in both Religious Studies and Sociology. Thus I also want to thank Regis for providing me with such a good education.
Since I had come from a very traditional school system where a teacher’s voice was the only voice in a classroom, Regis challenged me to think beyond that and to know that critical thinking and asking questions is “OK.” It was at Regis that I first really learned about Asia’s philosophies and religions. It was at Regis that I developed a different perspective on the war in my homeland, and from this perspective I learned about the urgency of peace. It was at Regis that I learned that peace is possible – that poverty is preventable – that building a just-society here is building God’s Reign on earth.
During my time at Regis, I met many good teachers like Alice Reich, Carmen Casis, Eleanor Swanson, Jamie Roth, Ron DiSanto, Randy Lumpp, Fr. Jim Guyer and John Kane. They walked with me during those years, and a few of them continue to walk with me on the road of building a just-society by helping to improve the lives of women and children in Viet Nam. This is something I first attempted through a for-profit enterprise called “Provide-N-Ce,” and now am working through a non-profit foundation “Bridging Hope.” I especially want to thank John Kane who is here today. He was my advisor at Regis and is now the President of Bridging Hope. On many occasions, I feel that he is still my advisor as he was when I was a student.
Bridging Hope in many ways shares Regis’ mission, and, needless to say, it’s also a Franciscan mission. Regis’ mission is to build a just society for all humanity while Bridging Hope’s mission is to bring justice to the women and children in Viet Nam. These women and children are victims of poverty and ignorance. They have suffered for so long. They are a most vulnerable and at risk group of people. I am reminded by Elie Wiesel that “…Just as despair can come only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.” Just as war and poverty can destroy people’s live, hope can restore and bring people back to the lives that have been promised by God from the beginning. And this is Bridging Hope’s dream.
I would like to close with the thought of Sister Mary Ellen Brinovec, OSU, when she said that hope is the ability to hear the “divine melody and daring to dance in the face of suffering”. Yes, Bridging Hope has encountered many destitute situations. Yes, Bridging Hope has encountered the despair and hopelessness that appeared on the faces of many. Yet, Bridging Hope has still dared to dream – still dared to Hope. Again, thank you for having me here!
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Other Press and Awards
Sen Nguyen Recognized as one of Denver's 150 Unsung Heros.
Click here to read more
Click here to read the nomination letter
Modern Nuns Less Conventional -by Nancy Lofholm of the Denver Post.
Denver Post- Lifestyle section - May 10, 2005
“A Cultural Phenomenon,” blog entry at Artist Success Academy, June 07 2006
Feedback from a very happy customer on Megablog
