Experiences in Ecuador

what a very educational experience you have, go,go,girl I hope that there will be more nurses like you!

How do you find out about doing this? I feel like this is something I would be interested indoing.

Child Family Health International. www.cfhi.org

Ecuador is amazing, I did a nursing study abroad in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the Junta de Beneficia hospitals, most amazing nursing experience ever!

I think the cost and the airfare have scared me off. It sounds wonderful though.

CFHI is a particularly costly program. I did it during grad school so applied a school loan towards it; however, there are lots of other international nursing opportunities available. I read on a thread somewhere that under the specialty tab on this website, select nursing specialities, you can scroll down and there is a section devoted to volunteer nursing opportunities. Perhaps you can find something more reasonable. There are also short term trips available with different programs that enable you to go for 1 -2 weeks which cuts the price down significantly.

Quitogirl. I would love to discuss your experiences (and stories about) in Ecuador, i look forward to learning more about yor work in an 'other america." thanks!~ Womankind

Latin America hasl always been a third-world environment when it comes to medical care, not medicine. It is the cultural attitude that allows the apparent lack of caring or lack of cleanliness. But also is the lack of rural health care, education and resources.As an international educator in an area that in the US is considered the Elite....flight medicine, I have seen many changes in the last 15 years of traveling to Central and South America. Health care is improving mainly because people do have alternatives or perhaps, can afford to pay for hose basic needs like a stretcher with sheets, a bedside commode and curtains for privacy.I am sure a few hospitals in he US are also struggling to provide those simple items. But I will share a recent experience observed during a trip to Argentina to certify flight physicians.As I am being shown the beautiful sites of La Plata, the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, we pass by he "General Hospital"; there is a line of people waiting outside, many sitting on he 10 steps leading up to he reception area. Food vendors all around and people holding bags with food and linen.......still waiting to be seen.Here is a country with advanced medicine, with surgeons who staff the UCLA and Stanford medical centers, yet still can not manage their local needs.If I were to be given the challenge to change something there, it would be to re-educate both care givers and patients...and show them how local free or sponsored clinics, would alleviate the problem of immediate health care.Those agencies offering such exposure to Lain American health care, do so not to improve the care, but to profit from he many souls who believe in giving while learning.I would love to hear comments and suggestions. You may visit our website as posted on our profile.Manny

When I went to Ecuador, I actually met my husband there and have been living in this country now for 2 years. I have gotten involved in the health care system here. I find it is very diverse. You have clinics and hospitals that are public run and are struggling with resources and funding and then we have others that are top notch, follow EBM, and I feel comfortable getting my medical care there.Unfortunately, the role of a nurse here is likened unto "maids work" and pays full time at about $400 a month!! The role of a nurse practitioner does not exist. I volunteer at one of the clinics with a doctor who understands what a NP is and does and allows to function in that role. I volunteer with a local foundation running a public health program for the poor, and do a variety of other work, currently exploring teaching at one of the univ here in their school of nursing where the dean, who is US trained, has a goal to raise the bar of nursing and care provided in this country. Change will only come slowly.There is a severe shortage of nurses in this country as almost everyone interested in health care goes into medicine. They have hundreds of medical students, so many in fact, that many are unemployed! On the other hand, nurses are undertrained, come from low socioeconomic status, aren't paid well, have little voice, and are not allowed to function in so many of the ways that nurses function in the U.S.Every medical and nursing student in Ecuador must complete a rural rotation. They are assigned by the ministry of health to a rural location anywhere in Ecuador to serve for one year. This is the only way they can staff their rural clinics as the bulk of doctors are located in the urban cities and very few in the rural areas. Unfortunately, that means the ones going out to the rural areas are green. If nurses could raise their standard here and be trained, they could help fill the gaps in the rural areas, but this requires a major shift in thinking!It seems that somethings are coming together so that in the future we may see nurses have a better status in the country - I hope anyway!

Indeed!!! I am quite aware of such nurse./doctor imbalance. I believe that changes occur when examples are set.......such as our aeromedical certification program. But we are in the midst of creating an academy in Florida that will fundamentally serve the EMS and prehospital care needs of our Latinamerican counterparts bu we can also take those programs abroad and offer the incentive of a US certificate which could open some doors to change.I applaud your stamina and dedication to a profession that is so mistaken for maids or worse, Doctor's maids. New doctors should play nurse...and see what it really means.Let me know how we can help. I do know some major players in Ecuador........perhaps it's time to make such attitude change

Hi there,I enjoyed reading your post so much and was glad to know that there are opportunities in Quito for extranjeros I am a nursing student moving to Quito in June after I take the boards. I would love to find nursing work there and am nervous about how to go about it, but reading your post was a little reassuring. Would you have any advice for me? My spanish is decent, and I think if I brush up on medical terminology that would be helpful. My clinical experience has been heavy in cardiology, but I have also done rotations on a neurology floor, pediatric medical surgical unit, labor and delivery, and a psychiatric rotation. I am so excited about moving to Quito and would love to hear more about your experiences!

I am interested in working in Ecuador for a year or two but I am just wondering about the licensing in the US what would happen to it.... also, I will be graduating as an NP next year... do NPs even exist in Ecuador and what can I even do as an NP in Ecuador