Advisor to the Director of Rwandan School of Nursing and Midwifery

The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) is currently working with a consortium of schools of nursing in the U.S., including New York University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Texas, Howard University, and Duke University, to recruit several faculty members for the Rwanda Human Resources for Health (HRH) Program. Five of these faculty members to be recruited are Advisors to the Director of a Rwandan School of Nursing and Midwifery to build the health education infrastructure faculty and health workforce necessary to create a high quality, sustainable health care system in Rwanda.  

Rwanda currently faces a severe lack of highly qualified physicians, nurses, midwives and other health care workers. The key obstacle to building the health workforce in Rwanda is the inability of Rwandan schools and clinical teaching hospitals to offer adequate levels of teaching, clinical training, mentorship, research experience, and opportunities for advanced/specialized study.

The U.S. Nursing Academic Consortium for the Rwanda HRH Program has been invited by the Rwanda Ministry of Health to assist in strengthening nursing education, faculty development, and professionalization of Rwandan nursing. The primary goal is to support nursing and midwifery faculty in Rwanda and strengthen clinical teaching programs for nursing and midwifery students. As part of this program, U.S. universities will hire nursing and midwifery educators and clinical mentors and deploy them to Rwandan schools of nursing and teaching facilities. These educators will fill a number of roles at Rwandan academic institutions and in the teaching hospitals and clinics, including Curriculum Development Advisor, E-learning Advisor, Simulation Lab Advisor, Educational and Professional Standards Advisor, Advisor to the Directors of Rwandan School of Nursing and Midwifery.

The Advisors to the Director of Rwandan Schools of Nursing and Midwifery will be a resource for all nursing and midwifery faculty, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, currently practicing nurses and midwives, and nursing and midwifery students throughout Rwanda.

Each director of a School of Nursing and Midwifery will be assigned a U.S. advisor.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Working with the director and faculty members to improve teaching techniques, integrate simulation into the curriculum, and address all other aspects of the school’s function
• Working with faculty at a school of nursing and midwifery, as well as the clinical mentors at the partner institutions where students have clinical placements, to ensure integration of theory into clinical instruction
• Working collaboratively to develop management and leadership courses
• Mentor nursing faculty in the development and implementation of research projects
• Provide lectures in faculty area of expertise

The education/experience requirements for the Advisor to the Director position include:

• At least three years of experience in teaching at an accredited college of nursing; academic administration at the departmental or executive level is preferred
• Expertise in the pedagogy of nursing and midwifery educational processes
• Experience in developing curriculum that integrates the use of simulation in nursing/midwifery clinical education
• A proven track record as a leader and teacher with faculty development expertise
• A PhD or equivalent from an accredited institution is preferred; master’s degree with at least three years teaching experience and proven track record of teaching excellence will be considered
• Former position that included program and curriculum development is preferred
• International development experience is preferred

Other qualifications:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Management style that is inclusive and collaborative
• Willingness to live in Rwanda for a minimum of 11 months
• Respect for the experience and expertise of Rwandan colleagues
• Commitment to the goals of the Rwanda Ministry of Health and Rwandan nursing leadership as it relates to strengthening of nursing and midwifery education
• French or Kinyarwanda language skills preferred but not required

Instruction to Applicants

Applicants should submit a letter of interest and CV to:

Marik Moen, MSN, MPH, ACRN
Assistant Professor, Family and Community Health
c/o Lois Reisig
University of Maryland School of Nursing
655 West Lombard Street, Room 502
Baltimore, MD 21201

AA/EOE/ADA