Zambia: a ‘beacon of critical care’

For nearly a decade, Professors Chris Carter and Joy Notter of Birmingham City University (BCU), have worked with emergency, trauma and critical care nurses in Zambia. It all started during Chris’s first visit in 2015, when he met Esther, who was one of the first critical care nurses in-charge of the largest intensive care unit in the country at the University Teaching Hospital. She had a transformative vision for healthcare and was the inspiration behind the successful critical care nursing project in Zambia which began after that first visit. 

‘She really wanted her nurses to have opportunities to develop and she was so clear about her plans for her unit, but sadly Esther had a cardiac arrest during childbirth and did not survive,’ says Chris. ‘You will always hear us talk about her legacy when we mention our work in Zambia, because her vision was clear, and she was one of the pioneers for the profession.’