By Liz Everett, Globe-News Staff Writer.
Amarillo Daily News. Web posted
Friday, January 26, 2001.
One of Amarillo's nurses will be among a select group of other nursing
executives representing the United States in the People to People Tour of Cuba
next week.
Valerie Kiper, chief nurse executive at Northwest Texas Healthcare System,
was informed in September by the American Organization of Nurse Executives of
her selection for the tour.
The delegates will convene in The Bahamas for an overnight briefing
concerning security issues, then they will travel to Havana, Cienfuegos and
Varadero, Cuba.
The purpose of the tour is for "bilateral exchange, which includes
talks about health-care structures and nursing leadership," Kiper said.
Kiper said the delegates were chosen based on their areas of expertise, "and
geography also played a big part of the selection." She said 30 other
nurses from such places as California, Vermont and south Texas are involved in
the project.
During the trip, delegates also will meet with representatives from the
Division of Nursing of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health and the World Health
Organization for the Development of Health and Nursing Services.
Kiper said she will talk about "our advance clinic track, where we
reward nurses based on their education, leadership and practice." She also
will talk about her role at NWTHS.
"I think what's going to be exciting is when we travel en route to
Varadero, we are going to be able to see a village hospital," Kiper said.
The delegates also will have cultural opportunities. Kiper said they will
visit the former home of Ernest Hemingway, who spent nearly 20 years living and
writing in Cuba. | 