A day in the life...

I thought it might be fun to give a quick glimpse at what a typical day might look like for me.  I’ve been working evening shift a lot, which is 2pm to 10:30pm, so I’ll try to sum up my day yesterday, Friday April 5th:

8:45 My alarm went off.  Our cabin was complete darkness… back sleep for thirty minutes. 

9:15 Actually got out of bed and got dressed.  Then I treated myself to a latte at the Starbucks and enjoyed a banana and a granola bar.  I hopped on a computer in the Internet Café, but at this point in the day the satellite seemed especially slow, so it took a long time for Gmail to even load.

10:00 Walked to the Niger Market with one of my cabin mates, Nadine.  It’s about a 15-20 minute walk, through some busy streets.  There are no real sidewalks, so in addition to watching carefully for cars, you must watch for other pedestrians, coffee carts, motorcycles, bikes.  Once there, we passed dozens of vendors with dried and fresh fish, vegetables, soaps and toiletries, shoes, yards of fabric, and plastic odds and ends like mirrors and combs.  Women carry goods on their heads and the little children wave at us "fote," aka white people.  The market is quite an experience with so many sights, sounds, smells.  I wanted to make a fruit salad for a Saturday picnic, so we arrived at my preferred produce stand, where the fruit seems fresh and I don't think the lady rips me off too much.  I bought 3 grapefruits, 2 papayas and a few mangoes. I was able to negotiate a little bit and the fruit cost me 40,000 Guinea Franc which is about $5.  Then we headed to an upper level of the market and Nadine picked up a dress that she had made by a tailor.  We watched as he altered it and sewed in a zipper.  Afterwards, we stopped at Le Damier, a lovely French bakery and restaurant.  I picked up some little meringues for the picnic and Nadine bought bread.  On our way back to the port, it was really nice to chat with Nadine and get to know her a little bit more. 

12:00 Arrived home.  The blast of air conditioning at the door might be my favorite thing about ‘coming home’ after being off the ship.  I quickly showered and headed to lunch.  I enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich and a salad.  Meal times are a nice opportunity to catch up with other nurses and volunteers.  I sat and lingered a bit enjoying a cup of coffee talking with some of my coworkers.

1:00 Quickly stopped in the ship shop, which is a place to buy some snack food, pens, toiletries, etc. Then I had a nice phone conversation with my mom before work.     

1:59 Left the cabin for the long commute to work.    

2:00 Arrived to A Ward.  At the beginning of the shift, the charge nurse gives us updates and answers any questions. We always pray together and then receive report.  My patient assignment included two adult plastic surgery patients that I’ve been taking care of for the last couple weeks, a cute 3 year old girl with a cleft lip repair and a man waiting for surgery to repair an inguinal hernia and remove a lipoma.  I always spend a few minutes towards the beginning of the shift figuring out which patients need dressing changes, which have therapy exercises to do, if there are tube feedings, and what time each patient’s medications are due.  At work at UW, a computer tells me an hour in advance when a medication is due.  Here, we have paper charts, so it’s important to organize my shift so that everything gets done.

2:30 Most of my patients went to Deck 7 with the day shift, so I colored with Kari, the charge nurse and some of the kiddos on the ward.  I also worked on learning a few Fula phrases, which is one of the local languages.  Sadly, I think I said something wildly inappropriate or my accent makes my words unrecognizable, because this made some of the kids laugh as if it was the funniest thing anyone has ever done.  I laughed too. 

3:00 Took my patient to the OR.  The previous nurse prepared the patient by discussing the surgery and what to expect post op, giving him some pain and mild sedative medications and asking him to scrub his surgical sites.  All I had to do was escort him to the Operating Room.  One of our day workers, Cecelia and I walked him down the hall to a door that leads to the OR.  The process is the same for every patient.  We sit at a bench while an OR nurse looks over the chart and does a double check that the patient is ready for surgery.  Then we ask if they would like us to pray for them.  For this particular patient, we thanked God for his life and for bringing him to Mercy Ships.  We prayed that the surgeon would have a clear mind and that the procedures would go well.  We also prayed that God would keep the patient safe and heal him quickly. 

4:00 Took vital signs and assessed the patients.  Some days I can do my rounds with 5 or 6 patients in twenty minutes.  Other times, I might only have 4 patients and it takes an hour and a half.  Part of the challenge of being a ward nurse here is the lack of space.  With caregivers, patients and staff, it can be difficult to speak over the volume that this amount of people creates.  Or, a drama or distraction of some sort might be unfolding, patient’s telling each other stories or children bring unwilling to share a toy, and it’s a little community, so the whole ward must be involved.  Sometimes with chairs, crutches and children toddling between the beds, it seems impossible to even physically reach my patients.  People are respectful though, and other nurses are always willing to help out when things are chaotic or someone gets behind on their work. 

5:00 Dinner time for the patients.  While her caregiver was eating, I tried to entertain the cute little girl with the cleft lip repair.  Before supper, I actually got a giggle out of her, but at this point she was whimpering and crying.  So, through a translator, I asked the caregiver, “Why is the girl crying?  Do you think she’s in pain?”  The answer I got made me laugh aloud, “No, she’s afraid you are going to give her more medicine.”  My new goal for the shift?  Win her over.  Make friends again. 

6:00 My own dinner time.  I headed upstairs to the cafeteria, and enjoyed pasta dish and garlic bread.  Afterwards, I stopped by my cabin to take my malaria medication and chatted with a cabin mate, Gillian for a few minutes. 

6:30 Back to the ward.  My patient arrived back from the recovery room while I was at supper, so I checked in with him, took some vital signs and did an assessment.  Then, looked at the doctor’s post-op orders and talked to the patient about his any restrictions and what to expect for the rest of the evening. 

7:00 Impromptu dance party!  Some of the patients and staff from B Ward started playing the drum in the hallway and within minutes, many of our patients were in the hall dancing, clapping and smiling.  The kids were having so much fun- dancing in their braces and crutches and totally hamming it up! 

8:00 Passed meds, visited with patients and played with the three year old.  While her caregiver took a nap, the sweet little girl and I blew bubbles and played with her teddy bear.  I must have succeeded in my goal to win her over (YESSS!!), because tears would form every time I walked away from her bed.  So, Elisabeth, one of our day workers taught me how to tie a baby to your back African style.  It was quite useful, I was able to do some work and she seemed quite content checking out the ward and falling asleep on my back.  Truth be told, it only took twenty minutes and my back started getting sore, so once her caregiver woke up, I put her back on the bed. 

9:00 Double checked my charting and chatted a little bit with some of the nurses.  I've said it before, but it's awesome that the nurses have all different types of experiences and backgrounds. 

9:45 After a dizzy first attempt to the bathroom for the man who came back from surgery, my coworkers helped me get him settled back to bed.  Dorcus, one of the sweet day workers, fed the patient some bread and tea.  Have I mentioned that I have awesome colleagues?

10:00 The nurses and day workers gathered and prayed before report.  We thanked God for the evening and for the patients and asked God protect them and heal them.  We also prayed that the oncoming staff would have a good shift and have the energy to take care of the patients.  I love that we pray before each shift.  People are welcome to pray in their own language and it’s a really special time before hand over. 

10:45 Walked back towards my cabin and some of my friends were sitting in the hall near our cabins chatting.  It’s nice to unwind, just shooting the breeze and discussing our days and plans for the weekend.  I also got to show off my hard work- my Hello Kitty Disco Party coloring page!

11:00 Late night cookie baking and cutting fruit in preparation for the picnic with my bunk mate, Kristy and friend Gillian.  There is a kitchen for people to use to bake and cook.  It's a nice communal space with ovens, counter space and equipment to share.  It was nice to chat a bit and hang out in the quiet kitchen.  Then off to bed. 

If you actually read this this long post in its entirety, you must understand why I sleep so soundly here!  I try to keep busy and take advantage of as many opportunities as I can, but I also take time for myself to reflect and relax.  I absolutely love the time I get to spend getting to know the other staff and volunteers, and especially the patients.  I have so much to learn from the amazing people God has put into my life while in Guinea.