Future nurses head to Moloka'i
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Staff Writer
If it sounds a bit ambitious, well, it is. But a small group of Hawaii Pacific University students plan to learn more in four days this week than in the rest of their years in nursing school.
Kalaupapa is like that, they say.
Eight nursing students will leave for Moloka'i Tuesday morning for what they expect will be the highlight of their education. They'll spend four days volunteering — anything from pulling weeds to beach cleaning — and living at Kalaupapa to learn about the isolated peninsula where patients of Hansen's disease once were exiled.
The trip is part of a transcultural nursing class, where students immerse themselves in a community to learn how culture affects health care and how nurses can best care for people by understanding a community's spirituality.
"It changes the perspective of the students," said Jeanine Tweedie, nursing professor and coordinator. "They learn to overcome stigma and stereotype. It's very inspiring. It shows how caring is interrelated with spiritual belief. That's something that we don't emphasize enough."
Students also come away with respect for the people who live at Kalaupapa. "They learn to see them as people, not as patients," Tweedie said. "They can carry that over to caring for anybody."
This is the third time HPU nursing students will visit Kalaupapa. They are the only students in Hawai'i who study transcultural nursing there.
LaBryanna Kubo, a senior in the nursing program, goes to Moloka'i every year but has never visited Kalaupapa. "It's magical over there," Kubo said. "As soon as I heard about it, I thought, I have to take this class. To be able to go into the park is amazing. It's really the only circumstance under which you can visit. It's an honor."
Tony Cooper had other motivations at first for taking the course. "Three credit hours in nine days," he explained with a smile. However, "after sitting through class and reading about Father Damien and the sacrifice he made, I really changed my mind." Cooper said he is looking forward to the trip and is picturing Kalaupapa as a slice of Hawai'i as it once was.
Access to the national park is limited to visitors at least 16 years old who must arrive by plane, or by a hike or mule ride down a 2,000-foot cliff with 26 switchbacks. Only those with sponsors are allowed to spend the night.
Nearly 8,000 patients were brought to the settlement between 1866 and 1969. Sulfone drugs introduced as early as 1946 have been able to cure the disease, and Hansen's disease patients today are treated as outpatients in most hospitals for the skin bacteria that attacks the nerves.
In 1969, Hawai'i rescinded its laws requiring Hansen's disease patients to be segregated here, but 42 patients still live in the settlement.
"Most people we've learned about have said they can't really describe Kalaupapa," said Katie Roberts, a junior. "I'm picturing peaceful, calm and with a sacred presence. It's really going to be an amazing experience."
To prepare for their trip, the students studied transcultural nursing and researched the history of Kalaupapa. They plan to bring lei for the graves of Father Damien de Veuster, Mother Marianne Cope and Brother Joseph Dutton, and will talk with the nurses and nuns who work there.
"It's so important for the body to be treated spiritually," said James Lane, a senior in the program. "The class is about just being more sensitive, learning other people's culture and horizons."
On the last day of class before the trip, Tweedie outlines the rules: No cell phones, no bank, no ATM, no television, no taking photos of residents. And while there is a pay phone, she discourages using it.
"The fewer phone calls the better," Tweedie said. "We're there to experience the isolation."
