2003 Projects (4th US-Russian Nursing Conference Cruise Projects).
In initiating this practice of Russian projects as a follow-up to the Conference Cruise, we were able to fund 2 projects. At the end of the 2003 Conference Cruise, two proposals submitted by Russian participants were funded. One proposal was to assist/work with the Russian Nurses’ Association (RNA), the national association of Russia, to develop a website; the second project was to assist a community hospice in Novgorod, Russia develop and disseminate brochures to inform/educate residents about the services offered by this hospice.
United States – Russian Global Links Project.
The Global Links project had the focus of developing a website for and with the national nursing association of Russia. Olga Komissarova, Executive Director of the Russian Nurses’ Association (RNA) worked with two faculty from Indiana University/Purdue University in Fort Wayne Indiana. The US faculty are Carol Sternberger, PhD, RN, CS and Linda Meyer, PhD, RN.
A small grant awarded on behalf of the US-Russian Nursing Conference Cruise initiated the support of this project. In addition to the in-kind and monetary support from Indiana University/Purdue University, Fort Wayne, this project is an example of multiple organization collaboration. Seven organizations, six of them Sigma Theta Tau International Chapters, contributed funding for this project. The six Sigma Theta Tau International chapters were: Alpha at Indiana University, Alpha Lambda at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Alpha Nu at Villanova University, Beta Psi at Oregon Health & Sciences University, Epsilon Beta at Fitchburg State University, XI Nu-at-Large at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne & University of St Francis. In addition, a Chapter of the American Association of Nurse Executives, the Northeast Indiana Organization also contributed funding for this project
Project planning began with the Executive Director and Administrative Assistant of the RNA during the 2003 Conference Cruise. Next phases of work were completed in Fort Wayne, Indiana and St Petersburg, Russia, sometimes in person and mostly by electronic communication.
The outcome of this work was the launching of the Russian Nurses’ Association website at www.medsestre.ru (there is both a Russian and English version of this website). Collaborative Accomplishments page of this Conference Cruise website.
Education about Services Offered by a Community Hospice.
Funding for a second proposal was awarded to Marina Basenko of the Novgorod Regional Women’s Community Organization League of Middle-Aged and Elderly Women in Novgorod, Russia. This organization offers community hospice services and had identified the need to inform and educate residents of Novgorod about the services provided by a hospice. One strategy to inform Novgorod residents about the availability of hospice services was to use brochures to provide an overview and introduction about the services provided by this hospice.
Thus, the grant supported a project to publish and disseminate two brochures to provide information about home hospice services to residents of Novgorod. The titles of the two brochures were: Palliative Care: What is it? and You are Not Alone. Dobra, Inc, a non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon, funded this project. Dobra, with a mission to assist the elderly, terminally, and disabled currently focuses its work in Russia.
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