Congratulations to Dr. Julie Carragher, school nurse from Sacred Heart School in Weymouth, for receiving her DNP this past December at the University of Tampa in Florida. 

Her DNP project was titled "The Impact on the Knowledge and Skills of Rwandan Nurses After Receiving A Novel Rheumatic Heart Disease Education and Skills Training."

"I was invited for my first trip as a Cardiology NP in 2013 to screen Rwandan children and young adults for Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD). As you know, RHD is the result of untreated or undertreated Step Pharyngitis. Over the next 10 years traveling to Rwanda, it became apparent to me that the nurses practicing in the remote clinical sites did not have the knowledge and skills to recognize and treat Strep Pharyngitis and as a result a completely preventable and treatable illness led to profound heart failure and death. My preceptor, Dr. Maria Kidner, a fellow DNP and I educated 72 health center nurses in remote Rwanda. The data collected through pre and post testing demonstrated knowledge gained with statistically significant results."

- Dr. Julie Carragher at her graduation, pictured in the center -