St Helena
Bosnia | Canada | China | Denmark | Finland | Germany
Ghana | Hungary | Japan | Jordan | Malaysia | Singapore
St Helena | Taiwan | Thailand | Uganda |
USA (Kansas) | USA (Washington) | Zambia
St Helena Students
The School is supporting nursing education and nursing on the remote Island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Over the past 5 years a number of St Helena students have enrolled on a variety of modules relevant to nursing and on the BSc in Nursing Science programme in the School.
Queen's/St Helena Nurse Education Link
The project has developed to include a new nursing curriculum for the Island and online modules that are accessed by students who are unable to come to Belfast. Students value the project as it gives them the opportunity to be part of a wider community of nursing students and find studying global nursing issues enjoyable and challenging.
Visit to St Helena February 2008
For the past 9 years, the
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- Planting a tree on
St Helena Island for Queen’s school of nursing and midwifery - Queen’s school of nursing and midwifery tree
St Helena nursing students St Helena community nurses - Shara Robinson who returned to
St Helena following gaining her nursing degree from Queen’s - With Sigrid Watt nurse teacher on
St Helena Island .
Student Profile - Maria Phillips
My name is Maria Phillips and I am from the Island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. I am a School Health Nurse on the Island and in April 2006 I came to Belfast through Queen’s University for professional development within this area. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here and found the experience very beneficial and rewarding.
On my return home to St Helena, I’m taking with me new ideas, new experiences and memorable thoughts of the people who I worked and came into contact with.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who were involved in planning, implementing and contributing to my training here in Belfast.
Queen's Visit to the Island of St Helena in May 2006
In May 2006, Dr Kathy Rowe visited St Helena Island in her role as UK Project Co-ordinator for the Queen's/St Helena Nurse Education Link. This was her fourth visit since the Link project was established in 1999. She visited the hospital and community settings, met with nursing and medical colleagues and reviewed the progress of the link following the implementation of the new nursing curriculum.
It was encouraging to renew friendships with a number of qualified nurses who had returned to the Island following updates and professional development courses at Queen's. A note of thanks was expressed by the Island’s Public Health Committee to the effectiveness of the Nurse Education Link and the ‘good work’ done by the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen's.
Visit to Queen's by colleagues from St Helena in May 2006
While Dr Rowe was on the Island, Mrs Shirley Anderson, Senior Nursing/Midwifery Manager spent time at Queen's with colleagues in the Midwifery Division reviewing the Island’s midwifery curriculum and Maria Philips spent 3 months shadowing the School nurses in preparation for her new School Nurse’s role on St Helena.
Visit to St Helena Island in July and August 2006
In supporting Nurse Education on the Island, Mrs Jean Nugent, Nurse Lecturer, Undergraduate Nursing Sciences from the School, will relieve the resident nurse teacher while he returns to the UK on annual leave for the months of July and August.
Éamonn Flanagan, Nurse Lecturer recalls his visit to the island of St Helena:
In July 2004 I visited the tropical island of St Helena, situated in the mid South-Atlantic, (Latitude 16°S – Longitude 5° 45W) to facilitate annual leave for the island’s resident nurse tutor. My visit, facilitated by the School of Nursing & Midwifery was arranged and funded by NICARE who are based at the EHSSB Headquarters in Linenhall Street, Belfast. The journey to St Helena generally takes a minimum of four days depending upon the availability of the connecting ship from Ascension Island. Ascension Island, which is a dependency of St Helena, is reached via a twelve hour flight from RAF Brize-Norton in Oxfordshire. After an overnight stay in the island’s only hotel (owned by a dentist from Bushmills in Co. Antrim) in the capital Georgetown, I boarded the RMS St Helena for the seven hundred mile, two and a half day, sea voyage to the island of St Helena. The only way to gain access to St Helena is by sea as the island does not have an airport. Since St Helena’s capital, Jamestown, does not have a deep water harbour to facilitate large ships, the RMS anchors in the bay and passengers are shuttled to the wharf using smaller craft.
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The island of St Helena measures 10K by 17K and the total land mass is 122km2 (47 sq. miles). Despite the island’s location within the tropics, south-east trade winds keep the climate mild, equable and changeable with the inland areas experiencing lower temperatures and more rain. Temperatures range between 20° - 32° in summer and 15° - 26° in winter. I visited during the island’s winter. St Helena’s greatest claim to fame is as the place of exile and death of Napoleon, who was imprisoned by the British on the island from 1815 until his death in 1821. Napoleon was originally buried on the island but his body was exhumed and repatriated to France in 1840. The French Government presently cater for tourists interested in Napoleon and have restored the two buildings (The Briars Pavilion and Longwood House) in which Napoleon lived while on the island. The site of his tomb, situated in Sane Valley can also be visited. Obviously, many tourists visit St Helena on the strength of the Napoleonic links. However, St Helena as a general tourist destination is also growing. Increasing numbers of people are visiting the island, particularly nature lovers and hill-walkers who are finding it a worthwhile destination. The island with its rugged coastline, divergent landscapes and extremely friendly people has a great deal to offer.
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During my seven week period on the island I was responsible for the management and organisation of the School of Nursing. Following a period of induction and orientation I engaged in negotiation regarding the provision of an in-service Professional Development Programme for all trained nurses and nursing assistants in the Learning Disability & Mental Health settings on the island. The programme which was subsequently delivered over a six week period covered a range of contemporary Learning Disability & Mental Health care issues. I also provided a range of study days and study blocks for students and qualified nurses. These included a series of workshops on ‘Breakaway Techniques’, which were also provided for the island’s Community Nurses and staff at the General Hospital. Other teaching and organisational input was required in respect of a ‘Getting Started in Care’ Programme, which facilitated a group of ten newly appointed nursing assistants to develop some basic nursing knowledge and skills.
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Apart from teaching responsibilities I worked closely with the Managers and staff of Barnview (Learning Disability), Sundale (Mental Health) & Community Nursing (Adult/Children’s) on a range of issues, including management of behavioural distress, workload weighting, day care, health assessment and health action planning. I also conducted an educational audit in Barnview, including a review of learning opportunities and learning outcomes and made recommendations for further changes. I reviewed and provided advice on existing nursing assessment and care plan documentation at Barnview, including the suggested introduction of Person Centred Planning and more comprehensive behavioural management and health assessment tools. Following an examination of policies, procedures and care standards at Barnview I recommended and/or suggested a number of standards and best practice procedures in Learning Disability Nursing. I appraised Professional Portfolios of Barnview & Sundale staff and provided advice and support regarding these. I also participated in two Radio Broadcast discussions on ‘Nursing’ to raise public awareness and aid recruitment. Recruitment is a perennial problem given the limited numbers of people, especially young people, who live, or remain on the island.
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Finally, during my time on the island I also participated in discussions with senior nursing, medical and administrative staff on the commissioning of a proposed new Behavioural Unit. Upon my return to Ireland I prepared a detailed report for NICARE on this issue.
Despite the intensity of the work involved I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the island. The people were extremely welcoming and friendly, interested in learning and eager to ensure that my sojourn there was a happy one. My thanks to all those who made my visit possible and to the people of St Helena, particularly those working in the Health Care services, for making it all so enjoyable. I would love the opportunity to return to the island in the future and would recommend that anyone who gets a chance to visit St Helena, should avail of that opportunity. It will invariably be a very worthwhile experience.
