{"id":78098,"date":"2026-07-30T07:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=78098"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:22:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:22:40","slug":"we-are-service-driven-people-dnp-students-treat-patients-in-rural-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/we-are-service-driven-people-dnp-students-treat-patients-in-rural-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We are service-driven people\u2019:\u00a0DNP\u00a0students treat patients in\u00a0rural\u00a0Peru\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Four

Karent Gresbrink (left), Kelly Jourdan, Chyna Germany and Dr. Kate McKinney pose at Machu Picchu. Photo courtesy of Dr. Kate McKinney.<\/p><\/div>\n

In June, a woman in rural Peru walked five hours to receive a pap smear at a health clinic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those treating the woman\u2014and others\u00a0like her\u2014included<\/span> University of Tennessee at Chattanooga <\/span>Doctor of Nursing Practice <\/span>students <\/span>Karent Gresbrink, Chyna <\/span>Germany<\/span> and Kelly Jourdan, <\/span>alongside faculty member Dr. Kate McKinney<\/span>, <\/span>the Kay K. Chitty assistant professor in <\/span>UTC\u2019s College <\/span>of Nursing<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThrough my <\/span>undergraduate<\/span> nursing school, I went and worked with an organization in Peru, <\/span>Cervi Cusco<\/span>, providing women\u2019s health services in rural areas and it\u2019s still around,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cI reached out and asked them, \u2018Now that I\u2019m in an instructor role, could I bring students?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very excited to have us come and help out.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The three students, all members of UTC\u2019s Family Nurse Practitioner Class of 2027, spent over a week providing primary and preventive care in Cusco, Peru.<\/span> At their hotel, the students lived in close quarters, sharing a dormitory-style room.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early each morning, they boarded buses for a two-hour drive to their clinic sites, where they set up in makeshift tents or auditoriums.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the family nurse practitioner program, we really emphasize the importance of cultural competency and understanding your patient\u2019s background,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cKnowing where they come from and how that plays into their health because it really plays a significant role in how they make their health decisions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gresbrink, Germany and Jourdan, who all work in Tennessee hospitals, agreed that healthcare looks different in Peru.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the United States, there\u2019s immediate access to care at all times,\u201d said Jourdan, a registered nurse at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga. \u201cYou get your results back the same day or within hours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like that here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two

Chyna Germany (left) and Kelly Jourdan work with a patient.<\/p><\/div>\n

Germany, a labor and delivery nurse who received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from UTC in 2021, described the experience as \u201crural health on steroids.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have problems like that, too, in our rural areas around here,\u201d Germany said, \u201cbut seeing it to that magnitude, it was just very eye-opening and made me feel even more excited to be there and to do women\u2019s health outreach in a different country where they don\u2019t have as much as we have here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All three students said they noticed the health differences between the rural Peruvian patients and those they typically treat in Tennessee hospitals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe prevalence of diabetes and hypertension wasn\u2019t as common there as it is in the U.S.,\u201d Germany said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jourdan believes lifestyle plays a role.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re much more active\u2014very, very active,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t eat fast food or highly processed food. They\u2019re making things from scratch. They\u2019re eating at home.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those observations aligned with Gresbrink\u2019s experience treating patients throughout the week.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we do health fairs here in America, almost everybody comes with chronic diseases and tons of medication, and there we found people that have no medications at all,\u201d Gresbrink said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gresbrink, who moved from her home country of Panama to the United States in 2020, began working as a registered nurse at Erlanger Baroness Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic while taking prerequisite courses at UTC.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fluent in Spanish, she helped with translation between patients and providers throughout the trip while also working alongside a local medical interpreter.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gresbrink said even without a shared language, communication often came naturally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot that can be communicated through body language,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone had a good chance to have clinical experiences, and the people were very kind to us, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope more students can have this opportunity because you\u2019re helping people at the same time you\u2019re learning. It\u2019s a very nicecombination of experience.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Germany said the trip strengthened her passion for women\u2019s health and preventive care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the difference between our healthcare system and theirs made me have a little bit more appreciation for what we have because it was very different,\u201d Germany said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group also made time to explore.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to go to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu,\u201d Jourdan said. \u201cIt was neat learning about the cultural side of things to help connect everything.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all got along so well. Dr. McKinney was wonderful. She had everything so organized … Everybody just had something to contribute, and it made the trip really enjoyable.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the week came to a close, McKinney watched the students leave with stronger bonds and a renewed sense of why they chose nursing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all talk about why we\u2019re in nursing, and it\u2019s that we are service-driven people,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cI think this trip <\/span>reflects<\/span>that. <\/span>Healthcare resources and services are limited in many of the communities we visited, and this experience gave us the opportunity to contribute to patient care while also learning from the people we served<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the students found it really rewarding.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Karent Gresbrink<\/p><\/div>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

UTC College of Nursing<\/a><\/p>\n

Doctor of Nursing Practice<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n

Peru photo gallery<\/h4>\n
\"Four <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Three <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In June, a woman in rural Peru walked five hours to receive a pap smear at a health clinic.\u00a0Those treating the woman\u2014and others like her\u2014included UTC Doctor of Nursing Practice students Karent Gresbrink, Chyna Germany and Kelly Jourdan, alongside faculty member Dr. Kate McKinney, the Kay K. Chitty assistant professor in UTC\u2019s College of Nursing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":78158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,70,4936,122493,122313,7712,119404,8325,661],"tags":[126498,124483,124527,125867,127069,126294,73146],"class_list":{"0":"post-78098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-college-of-nursing","9":"category-education","10":"category-experiential-learning","11":"category-faculty-and-staff","12":"category-lead-story","13":"category-news","14":"category-service","15":"category-students","16":"tag-commonspirit-memorial-hospital-chattanooga","17":"tag-doctor-of-nursing-practice","18":"tag-erlanger-baroness-hospital","19":"tag-family-nurse-practitioner","20":"tag-goal-1-2-enhance-learner-success-strategic-plan-2030","21":"tag-kate-mckinney","22":"tag-peru","23":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018We are service-driven people\u2019:\u00a0DNP\u00a0students treat patients in\u00a0rural\u00a0Peru\u00a0 | UTC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In June, a woman in rural Peru walked five hours to receive a pap smear at a health clinic.\u00a0Those treating the woman\u2014and others like her\u2014included UTC Doctor of Nursing Practice students Karent Gresbrink, Chyna Germany and Kelly Jourdan, alongside faculty member Dr. Kate McKinney, the Kay K. 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