Deborah Burger, RN, NNU Council of Presidents Helps Haiti Earthquake Victims

When the terrible earthquake struck Haiti, followed by a flood of media attention and global concern, RNs in America knew one thing: nurses would be in Haiti long after the TV cameras left. And this is exactly what has come to be. A team of registered nurse volunteers with National Nurses United, from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas were the latest, departing for Haiti last Friday to serve a nine-day deployment at Hopital Sacre Coeur. The deployments are expected to continue for several months, reflecting the commitment of nurses to these patients.

Hopital Sacre Coeur (HSC), a 73-bed facility, is the largest private hospital in the north of Haiti, located 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince in the town of Milot. Before the earthquake, the hospital typically had 56,000 patients a year and people would often travel miles to receive care. After the disaster, tent hospitals were set up for the many additional patients as well as for discharged patients who had no housing.