Shannon is a registered nurse from Southern California specializing in neonatal intensive care. She currently lives in East Africa, serving in Tanzania and southern Ethiopia. The bulk of her work focuses on clinical care and formal nurse education, particularly in the treatment of premature newborns, sick infants, and low-birth-weight babies.
Since the beginning of her nursing career, Shannon has felt a steady calling toward global health. Her interest in healthcare disparities deepened after reading Thirst by Scott Harrison. In 2022, she taught at the annual “Tiny Feet Big Steps” neonatology conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Her passion for clinical education and nurse development has continued to grow, leading her to partner with the Institute for Child Healthcare Africa (ICHA) to help cultivate nurse training programs in Tanzania. She worked as a nurse mentor at Arusha Lutheran Medical Center and has served at Soddo Christian Hospital in southern Ethiopia. She hopes to continue working in the NICU in both Arusha and Soddo. Through her work, Shannon seeks to reflect the message of hope and healing found in missional medicine.
Check out her blog: https://substack.com/@shannoncessna