Debbie Lester, RNC BScN

Debbie Lester has been a qualified R.N. for 14 years. Her experience has largely been in neonatal/infant intensive care settings, working with critically ill infants on a daily basis and liaising closely with their families. She attends both normal and high risk deliveries of infants, and where necessary resuscitates and stabilises babies in difficulties, to ensure a smooth transition to extra-uterine life.

Her career began in Canada at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC Canada, followed by a short period in the BC Children's Hospital. She then travelled to Bermuda, and worked at King Edward Memorial Hospital. In the USA she worked for the University of California Medical Centre and the University of Washington Medical Centre. She is currently working at the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Centre of Seattle, USA.

In addition to the usual chaos of working as a Neonatal ICU Nurse, Mrs Lester also:

• Works on-call as a specialist Nurse with the Infant Ground Transport Team, where she brings in infants up to 6 months of age to either the Children's Hospital or the University of Washington Medical Centre. She resuscitates the baby at the referring hospital, stabilises, and transports them.

• Works as an educator, through the Children's Hospital, with the Northwest Neonatal Outreach Program. In this role she is an Instructor of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (formally known as Neonatal Advanced Life Support), providing training and certification to nurses, doctors, and midwives.

• Is a specialist in newborn care and lactation, having developed training packages for new staff at the Children’s Hospital. She has also undertaken work as a Lactation Consultant in Washington and Bermuda, with a focus on breast feeding and lactation for mothers who have given birth to a premature or sick infant.

• Has initiated and written a training package to certify special care nursery nurses in venipuncture (blood draws and intravenous needles) of the neonate. This manual was initially developed to certify staff in the Special Care Nursery in Bermuda to perform venipuncture effectively, and has subsequently been used in a range of other units.

Mrs Lester has served on Research Utilisation Committees in two units, on (i) Kangaroo Care, and (ii) Skin Care of the Premature Infant. Kangaroo Care (consistent mother-to-baby skin to skin contact) of the neonate has been shown to have great benefit internationally, and in most units this is now common practice. In the latter project, she and her team researched the benefits of the use of Aquaphor ointment, which was shown to be beneficial in preserving skin integrity in premature infants. This practice was also integrated into unit protocols and is now common practice elsewhere.

After graduating with a Diploma in Nursing, Mrs Lester completed her Neonatal Intensive Care Program and an Advanced Diploma in Neonatal Health Sciences while working. After then gaining her Bachelor of Science, she began her Master of Science (majoring as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner), which she is still currently completing. She is contemplating a shift towards studies which focus on International Public Health.

Mrs Lester's professional affiliations are with the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and the Pacific Northwest Association of Neonatal Nurses. She also holds certification with the National Certification Corporation for the Obstetric, Gynaecologic and Neonatal Nursing Specialties.

She currently works on a part-time basis with the ISIS Foundation as the Uganda - Special Projects Manager. For more information on her role with the Foundation, please see ISIS: Work On The Ground on this website.