A Ward

When I arrived to the Africa Mercy, I was assigned to work on the A Ward.  There are 4 wards- B is for specialties, and right now it is filled with women who have had VVF (Vesicovaginal Fistula) repairs.  C is a small unit that is currently used for "hotel" patients, giving them a place to stay until their surgery.  D ward has a couple of ICU beds and also receives mainly maxillofacial surgery patients.  A Ward is awesome because we get all of it!  Right now we are taking care of patients having general surgery but we're also the 'overflow' of the other units.  I have been challenged and have learned so much in the last two weeks.   So far I've taken care of: kids with cataract surgery, adults and children with cleft lip and palate repairs, adults with VVF repairs, hernia repairs, and lipoma resections.  I am really enjoying taking care of the kiddos, but it is a whole different world!  My coworkers are so patient, answering my many questions about pediatric nursing.

It's hard not to compare working on A Ward and my experiences at UW Hospital. The nurses work together as a team, same.  The nurses are from all over the world and are actually paying to come to work, different.  Passing meds, changing dressings, I&Os, walks in the halls, same, same, same.  However on the Africa Mercy, many of the supplies are donated, very little gets thrown away and much is cleaned and reused.  Med cups, kidney dishes, bedpans- turns out they are all reusable.  Syringes are not reused, (I know you're thinking 'Oh thank goodness, that's the same!')  However, syringes and certain other types of trash go straight to the incinerator, because otherwise there is a high chance that our trash will be looked through and could be reused and even filled and sold.

One major difference is that the patients are so very grateful to be on the ship.  I want to clarify- at home there are many patients that are grateful for the care they receive, but they certainly don't want to be in the hospital.  Here, instead of cursing their circumstances, our patients here are happy to have the opportunity to be here.  For most of the patients, if there was no ship, they would never receive surgery.

Physically, the hospital looks very different from my unit at home.  There are two adjoined rooms of ten beds each.  The beds are about two or three feet apart from one another.  When a child is admitted to our hospital, they have a caregiver who sleeps on a mattress under the bed.  There is no EPIC in Africa, but a paper chart at the foot of every bed. 

The atmosphere is very different as well.  Looking around the unit, at any given moment there could be a group of patients and nurses playing Jenga or Uno, a patient napping, a breastfeeding mother and infant, a nurse working with a translator to discharge a patient, and one of the chaplaincy staff playing the guitar.  All in the same room.  All at the same time.  To call is chaos would be an understatement.  But it's beautiful.  I am learning more and more that West African culture values community.  The patients don't mind sharing the space.  In fact, I've noticed a few times that when a patient is admitted to the ward, all of the other patient introduce themselves.  There are times that our translators (day workers) don't speak the same dialect as a patient.  Other patients and families might help translate or explain to something to the patient.  Our patients make friends, laugh, share and hold each other's babies.  It's awesome to work in such a community. 

I love my new job.  I am still feeling like a newbie, but I am absolutely settling into my role here.  It seems as if spending time with the patients and giving them love is one of the most important tasks at work.  There's a different pace here, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time spent just being with the patients.  These moments of painting a patient's nails or talking with them is so valuable and I get just as much out of it as I put into it.  At home, I normally wouldn't visit a patient on my day off, but here, it's not unusual.  In fact, I'm off to do that right now!