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By Maria Kidner, Lander Rotary Club
(Maria Kidner (right in photo) is a doctoral prepared nurse practitioner with 18 years’ experience in cardiology. She has worked in Rwanda since 2014. In 2020, Team Heart, a non-profit organization providing free valve replacements for patients with Rheumatic Heart Disease while also training cardiac surgeons, asked her to design and oversee the first post-mastered nursing cardiology
course in Rwanda. This led to the 2023 nurse conference described in Maria’s letter below.)
course in Rwanda. This led to the 2023 nurse conference described in Maria’s letter below.)This is a story of how I was able to make a dream come true.
In 2014, while living temporarily in Rwanda, I learned about the devastation of Rheumatic Heart Disease, which has its start in untreated cases of strep throat. I knew that teaching a clinical diagnosis for strep throat and the proper way to treat strep throat could save lives. Yet I quickly found out that to develop and implement an educational training on a scale to make a true difference is difficult and expensive.
Fast forward to 2020: I was asked if I would build an educational program for nurses to gain cardiology skills. That ask grew into the Specialized Cardiac Nurse program for Rwanda. This extensive training program provided graduate level education for six nurses...but not on a scale to make a difference. Then, at District 5440’s District Conference in 2022 in Lander, I was inspired by others presenting their service projects, and I suddenly realized that Rotary could help make my dream come true.
In August 2022 I started working with my students to develop a nurse-developed, nurse-given Rheumatic Heart Disease conference for the nurses in the remote locations of Rwanda who provide direct care to their communities. We went through an Institutional Review Board for research and developed a full research protocol to analyze our presentations to ensure a sustaining program could be built. With Rotarians’ and others’ donations, we raised enough money to cover a conference for 30 participants, providing each participant with a stethoscope, manual, water bottle, pen and a highlighter.
I arrive
d in Rwanda on February 9, 2023. After some negotiations, the Rwandan Biomedical Board (RBC), the country’s oversight board for all healthcare activities, approved our project, after initially denying approval. We convinced the Board that the University of Rwanda was directly involved since three of my students are faculty and the primary investigator was Dr. Madeleine (a good friend to the RBC).
d in Rwanda on February 9, 2023. After some negotiations, the Rwandan Biomedical Board (RBC), the country’s oversight board for all healthcare activities, approved our project, after initially denying approval. We convinced the Board that the University of Rwanda was directly involved since three of my students are faculty and the primary investigator was Dr. Madeleine (a good friend to the RBC).That first night, I was asked to present to the Rotary Club of Kigali. After my presentation, the club members unanimously agreed to become our sister club in a Global grant to build a sustainable team and process to reach all nurses working in the remote areas of Rwanda. What a thrill and overwhelming sense of gratitude I have towards the Rotary Club of Kigali!
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