Welcome
Introduction by Sister Jane Booth (RN.RM.ACPN)
I am delighted to introduce you to the Breatheasy, a unique home care programme. We empower mothers, through rigorous training, to take over the responsibility for their children’s care from medical professionals. At the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital we have, over a period of 22 years, enabled hundreds of children with tracheostomies to return home to their families and communities, rather than remain in hospital indefinitely.
We would now like to share our expertise and help replicate this programme in other institutions, by continuing to train mothers, by funding equipment, by guiding research and creating curricula for clinicians and specialist nurses.
We are fortunate to have the full support of the Medical Faculty at the University of Cape Town, with a specific view to creating teaching posts with a Clinical Masters in Nursing that will grow our work and unique knowledge base.
We hope that ours can be an inspiration for other home-based care initiatives.
Whether you are a parent, a professional, a potential donor or an incidental internet visitor, I want you to know that we are committed to giving every chronically ill child this opportunity for a dignified and fulfilling quality of life.
Jane Booth
RN RM ACPN