Improving Rural Healthcare Services

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Community nurses are the first point of medical care for a large percentage of Armenia’s population, working from Health Posts that dot the country’s rural landscape. Health Posts service communities with limited access to the larger health centers and polyclinics that are staffed by primary care physicians and specialists.

Despite the crucial role that community nurses play in Armenia’s health care system, there has been little investment to ensure these healthcare providers are trained in up-to-date skills and techniques. The Primary Healthcare Reform project (PHCR) is implementing a community nurse training program in order to fill this quality of care gap for rural residents.Karine Bekjanyan has been a community nurse in Neghots since 1992. With the nearest health center six kilometers away, and over 15 kilometers to the closest polyclinic, Neghots needs a health care provider who can act quickly and effectively. Karine participated in PHCR’s six-month training course, covering 35 healthcare topics from the Unified Family Nursing Curriculum, the official nationwide nursing education curriculum.

The training came in handy for her one recent evening when Rita Dallakyan, aged 13, was brought to the health post with a severely fractured arm. When examining her patient, Karine relied on the skills learned in the emergency care module of the PHCR training and was sure what to do: she immediately immobilized the girl’s arm and two adjacent joints so the fracture didn’t worsen or harm surrounding tissues. Thanks to her actions and the pain reliever she administered, the young patient slept comfortably that evening.

The next morning at the health center, Rita’s doctor put the arm in a cast, acknowledging the quality of Karine’s work. The X-ray showed that the fracture was properly set without complications.

Karine says the new skills she mastered in the PHCR training will spare Neghots residents the delays and expense of traveling to get quality medical care. “In our workaday routine it is not always possible to keep track of the latest developments in nursing practice. Personally I and, I’m sure, most of my peer trainees, learn something entirely new every training session. I feel so much more confident dealing with various health problems now.”