Community stories

Regional stroke care transformation in South America is about more than metrics, writes Deborah Ferreras in a South American edition of the Angels Journey.

A decade of Angels has shown how building a community makes change unstoppable.

The idea that for one to succeed, everyone must succeed, is the rallying cry for the 100 Angels Regions strategy.

Stroke survivors are our teachers. From them we learn what courage looks like outside the hospital doors. They show us when we succeed and when the system fails, and they remind us why this community matters.

The past decade has not only fundamentally changed post-acute stroke care in Europe, it also changed perceptions of stroke nurses’ role in hospitals, and established the power of nurses to influence practice.

Inside an ambulance there is a different universe, paramedics believe. “Every time I work in the ambulance car, I feel better because I am doing something for society, for someone. It’s good to be there. Every EMS worker feels the same way.”