Student nurses join dengue fight<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Wearing her blue college jacket, nineteen-year-old Devi smiled
\nas she passed out her last calendar to a passenger of a minivan
\npassing by the Rasuna Said-Gatot Subroto intersection in South
\nJakarta on Friday.<\/p>\n
Approaching cars or climbing in and out of buses that stopped
\nat the red lights, Devi, a freshman at the Jayakarta Nursing
\nAcademy in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, was eagerly trying to steal
\na few seconds of passengers' time to explain the three steps to
\nprevent the spread of dengue fever.<\/p>\n
\"This is the first time I have had the chance to go out into
\nthe field, and I'm really exited,\" said Devi, one of the 15
\nstudents from the academy taking part in the 30-minute campaign.<\/p>\n
Confronted with ever worsening annual dengue outbreak, the
\ncity administration has enlisted the services of hundreds of
\nnursing students from 40 medical and nursing schools in
\nthe capital to contain the outbreak since November 2004.<\/p>\n
Every Friday, the student volunteers go to subdistricts or
\nintersections to remind the public or hand out leaflets on the
\ndangers of dengue fever and how to contain it.<\/p>\n
Windy, Devi's classmate, said the campaign provided the
\nstudents with the opportunity to contribute their medical
\nknowledge to the public, while learning and practicing how to
\ndeal with people of different backgrounds and personalities.<\/p>\n
\"Why do we want to do this? Besides learning to interact with
\nother people, which we will need to do in our careers as nurses,
\nwe're also mentally preparing ourselves for people's reactions
\ntoo, maybe even rejection, of our advice. And I totally agree
\nwith the government effort. I think the disease can only be
\novercome through a joint effort, like in Cuba,\" said Windy.<\/p>\n
Cuba's success in eradicating dengue fever through the 30-
\nminute campaign program has inspired its application in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
According to Devi and Windy, most Jakarta residents are still
\nunaware of the dangers of dengue, which is endemic in various
\nareas throughout the capital, and fail to take the appropriate
\npreventive actions.<\/p>\n
\"When we passed out the calendars, people were reluctant to
\ntake them even though they were free, and didn't seem to have any
\ncuriosity about how to deal with the disease,\" said Windy.<\/p>\n
Among the problems the students encountered while passing out
\nthe calendars was not getting the chance to explain the three
\nsteps for preventing dengue, which are: cleaning the bak mandi
\n(bathroom water tub) once a week, covering water containers, and
\nburying unused items that could hold water. \"Because the calendar
\nis free, people sometimes just take it and ignore us,\" Devi said.<\/p>\n
According to Purwadi, a lecturer on community nursing at the
\nJayakarta Nursing Academy, the students could be used more
\neffectively in raising public awareness by sending out at least
\n10 students to every community unit in the subdistricts worst
\naffected by dengue.<\/p>\n
\"We are now working with the head of the Cijantung subdistrict
\nin East Jakarta to establish such a program,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Sending out students door to door to inform and educate the
\npeople about the three steps is not easy because we must avoid
\ncutting into their study time,\" said Purwadi.<\/p>\n
\"For that reason, have prepared a team of volunteers
\nconsisting of 30 alumni of the academy, to assist at Pasar Rebo
\nhospital in East Jakarta in our program to treat dengue
\npatients,\" said Purwadi. (001)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/student-nurses-join-dengue-fight-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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