Throughout Armenia’s rural areas, communities often depend on their nurses for their healthcare needs. With a shortage of doctors in many regions, nurses are the de facto primary providers, which makes it imperative that they are up-to-date on the latest in medicine.
As a leader in improving healthcare disparities through continuing medical education to all, part of our work focuses on giving nurses the training they need to best support their patients. FAR has been able to implement this critically important project thanks to the continued support of The Nazarian Family of New Jersey and the Dr. Raffy Hovanessian Education Fund. Recently, 10 nurses from Armenia’s Berd and Sisian Regions and Artsakh participated in a two-week Training of Trainers course in Yerevan that focused on infectious disease, first aid, cardiovascular diseases, and hygiene practices among other things.
“There are differences between our regional medical centers and those in the capital,” said Lilit Baghdasaryan R.N. from Sisian Medical Center, who noted that the course greatly enriched her knowledge. “For example, in Yerevan, nothing can be done until the doctor sees the patient and his or her medical history. In our case--and it may sound strange to our colleagues in urban areas but this is a harsh reality in rural Armenia and Artsakh--nurses often do the doctor’s role and jump in with prescriptions because we have a gap in medical personnel so we have to really know how to diagnose.”
Each participant will now train dozens of nurses in their home regions. By the end of 2022, we expect 150 nurses from Armenia and Artsakh to have been trained directly and indirectly through this program.
Nurses are integral to healthcare. Support our Healthcare Program today and help bring better care to rural communities.