The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) is harnessing the power of wireless technologies and online communities to help nurses throughout the world "connect for health." Under the direction of faculty member Patricia A. Abbott, PhD, RN, FAAN, the School's Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery Community of Practice (GANM) has become a teacher for the 21st century, speeding new health information and know-how to nurses around the globe from the most urbanized, high-tech cities to the most remote villages without electricity.

Kitty Poon, RN, a Hopkins master's of nursing candidate, has joined Abbott's GANM team and is now creating mechanisms for using new media to save countless lives in Spanish-speaking communities everywhere. Poon, Abbott, Hopkins colleague Kathleen Woodruff, MS, CRNP, and others are crafting a downloadable educational module about a low-cost, low-tech cervical cancer screen. Members of the GANM community will log on, download the module, and refresh their skills to conduct visual cervical cancer inspections using acetic acid (VIA). Because it requires no lab or biopsy, and can spot cervical cancer effectively and accurately in a single visit, this technique has been suggested as an alternative method of cervical cancer screening in low-resource areas.

What began as a scholarly project for Poon's graduate studies now has become an important contribution to women's health, and one that recognizes the value of health promotion and early detection of disease. Abbott notes, "By making her educational module available online, we give an immediate gift of new knowledge to GANM members and their networks of colleagues. In turn, they can give a gift of a different sort a cancer screen with life-saving potential to women throughout the entire Spanish-speaking world. The immediacy and importance of the return on her work far outstrip that of a traditional written report on VIA that sits on a shelf somewhere. That's the power of the new technology at its best."

The GANM electronic Community of Practice, which today includes over 1,800 nurses and midwives from 132 countries worldwide, is managed and maintained by the JHUSON with support from the World Health Organization. Because it uses an electronic communication system designed for use in remote and/or low bandwidth settings, the GANM requires little more than e-mail access to unleash the power of the technology. As information and communication capacity continue their massive outward expansion, particularly in areas without running water or reliable electricity, the need for the GANM continues to grow. And that's a good thing for the public health and for individual health worldwide. Abbott points out, "Through GANM, nurses learn globally and can act locally. By bringing new health practices to isolated nurses, midwives, and health workers with this low-cost, increasingly accessible technology, GANM helps us reduce the time it takes to move new knowledge from the research bench to nursing practice. We are seeing an incredible growth in cellular telephony for health the so called 'Health movement' and we are reaching the frontline caregivers in the global battle for health by leapfrogging over landlines and traditional methods of information dissemination. These new technologies are the equivalent of health information time travel."

The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is a global leader in nursing research, education, and scholarship. The School and its baccalaureate, master's, PhD, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs are recognized for excellence in educating nurses who set the highest standards for patient care and become innovative national and international leaders. Hopkins is the only nursing school in the country with a baccalaureate Peace Corps Fellows Program and is ranked at the top of the enrollment rankings for colleges and universities that are Peace Corps Fellows/USA partners. Among U.S. nursing schools, the Hopkins community public health nursing master's program is ranked second by U.S. News & World Report; the nursing graduate programs overall are ranked fourth. Each year, the School's nursing research program and faculty achieve placement among the top 10 in nursing schools for securing federal research grants and for scholarly productivity. For more information, visit http://www.nursing.jhu.edu.

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