The nursing school at UNC-Greensboro has been helping to train nurses in the country of Moldova to better care for Ukrainian refugees.
UNC-Greensboro has been part of a 10-year collaborative partnership to help establish nursing degree programs in Moldova and to provide on-going support to nurses working there.
The North Carolina - Republic of Moldova Nursing Collaborative also receives support from the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office.
UNC-Greensboro nursing professor Audrey Snyder said Moldovan nurses who are in contact with the collaborative recently requested training to respond to the more than 230,000 refugees that have recently arrived at their border with Ukraine. Moldova borders southwest Ukraine.
“They have not seen anything to this extent in their history,” Snyder said.
Some of the refugees are arriving with significant war-related wounds — including amputations — as well as wounds that occurred in their migration out of Ukraine.
“All the people on our previous meeting calls have said, ‘we have refugees in our home, we're caring for them as best we can,’ as well as doing their jobs,” Snyder said.
Utilizing a grant from the Guilford Rotary Club, UNC-Greensboro is helping lead a six-part virtual training program on public health issues related to refugee care. Snyder was a presenter at the most recent webinar, which more than 500 nurses in Moldova attended.
The nurses have requested education on treating war-related wounds, nuclear and radiological treatment, and psychological first aid. Snyder said the collaborative also plans to provide education on disaster preparedness and treating issues that tend to affect refugee children, like malnutrition.
Snyder said she hopes the information will be distributed widely throughout healthcare settings in Moldova.
