First days of working

Hi everyone!
I had my first day of working today. I was working with another nurse, she is an RN from Virginia. She showed me a lot and was very patient with me. We had 5 patients to care for today. Three adults, and 2 children,  all with burn injuries. They were either scalded with hot water from a stove, or were burned from a campfire. The people mostly cook outside of their huts - which are usually thatched and use coal fires on the ground. Very dangerous. These people have major, major burns which have severe contractures like I have never seen before. Contractures are basically  formed when the burn is healing and the skin and muscle shrink, causing severe deformity. These patients were difficult to see, and my heart was extremely sorry for them.

The day went well.
Here are some of my observations..
All the beds are extremely low and all of the small beds are on bed risers like we would use at home. Otherwise the beds would be about 1 foot off of the floor, and would kill all of our backs bending all day. No electric bed, no head to raise up, no side rails.. different.
In my ward, there are 20 patients. 5 patients on a side of a room in 2 small rooms. The beds are about 1 food apart and there are caregivers - usually parents, but sometimes older siblings, at each child's bedside. Kids and adults are mixed in together- something that would never happen in the U.S.

The nurses are all in these rooms, and there are no chairs, or any places for us to sit. So we stand all day, -- although we are very busy all day also. We never are more than 20 feet away from our patients.

Water-- there is one water faucet on each side of the ward, and one sink between the wards. The water at the shared sink is fine for washing hands, but not drinkable. The patients all have plastic cups on a wooden tray which is attached to the side of their beds. The cups have their room number on them with tape like bed 9 and bed 9 C for the caregiver, so lots of constant filling of these cups.

I worked day shift today- 7 am to 4 pm. The patients are on mostly pain meds which are scheduled at intervals for 2 days post op and then they are prn- as needed. They are also all on nutritional supplements twice a day. Nutrition is a big issue, as most of these people eat mostly rice or corn and they don't get much protein into their diets.

 At 2:30 we have all of the patients who are able to move go up 4 flights of stairs to sit outside to get fresh air for 1 hour. If patients can go, but can't walk, they go up by elevator,but these today were only ortho people on crutches. Patients don't go up until they are post op day 7. They stay on the ship for weeks-- like 3-4 weeks and then go to our rehab center on shore. Going up to deck 7 was something to see. While outside, they have games to play, mostly with us nurses-- Jenga, connect 4 and dominoes. there are also riding toys and swings for the kids to play on. There are deck chairs for all and they enjoy the fresh air. No incentive spirometers here, they all move around quite a bit.

After we bring all of the patients back down, we hand off to evening shift, who arrive at 2 pm, take report and stay with those who can't go out, only about 1/3 of the patients.

These pictures are official Mercy ship pictures and so therefore, I'm not in any of them. but I do know these patients.

This little girl had boiling water spilled upon her, and she had 4th degree burns all over her neck and chest. She had a contracture release and skin graft from her thigh.

This woman had a large tumor removed from her face.

 Here is Jenga on the ward...

 and on Deck 7... play time. the patients also get music going out there and dance around.

 A rousing game of Jenga between patients and nurses.

 This girl is 21-- she had a huge tumor on her back a neurofibroma. It looked like dreadlocks down her back and weighed 5 kg-- about 11 pounds when removed. She is so happy it is unbelievable.

This is Marie Silvie- I admitted her on Thursday evening. She has scarring all over her left side of her head, and burn contractures all down her left arm and chest. She had her surgery on Friday with skin grafting from her thigh. She did well.

I have gone into town a few times. These are our modes of transportation--

The yellow is called a tuk tuk and is gas powered. 

The blue is called a push-push and it is a bicycle powered cart for 2 people. 

 

I went to a Lemur park today. There were many in the wild, but some were in cages for tourists to be able to see them up closely.. That was pretty neat!

It's rainy season and we went on a big hike -- our guide cut us some walking sticks-- bamboo--

I am having a great time and learning lots, please feel free to add questions!

DISCLAIMER

Although I am currently serving with Mercy Ships, everything communicated here strictly reflects my personal opinions and is neither reviewed nor endorsed by Mercy Ships. Opinions, conclusions, and other information expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercy Ships.