Aloha Adventures

I am so ready to start heading home. As the end is in sight, and I’m missing Garet, it’s so easy for me to want to go home and be comfortable.  And then there’s times like today. Where I walk down to the ward (on my day off mind you!) and the kids yelling “JENNA!!” when they see me walk in. And the parents speaking Mende to me and calling me Aminata, their nickname they’ve given for me. And asking for “snaps” or photos with their kids. And kids placing stickers on my forehead they’ve collected and writing notes. Feels wonderful to be welcomed and loved, you don’t get that often in the ER 😂 I came down to join in the celebration “waka” (walk) off the ship for our discharged kids. And there’s music, and all the families from the wards and chaplaincy, and nurses cheering and dancing and singing in joy for our kids who have healed well enough to continue home. And I’m brought to tears. I’m currently weeping in silence writing this. This cold ER nurse, with little want for connection, cann

 FINALLY! You guys can actually see SOME proof of what I am doing. Unfortunately, (but understandably), photos are not allowed to be taken inside the hospital. Which means I do not have any personal photos to share. HOWEVER , these are some approved photos from Mercy Ships crew and communications team that I can post with you all :) And these are some of the cuties I get to help take care of and know personally! The Mercy Ships crew follows the kids journey and includes photos of their home life, pre-op, and rehab/care.    One of the hardest things for me to get used to, is entertaining these guys all day! Since most have bilateral (or both legs) operated on, they are pretty much confined to their beds. Until they start rolling around like this guy!  Who (by the way) is already discharged and up and walking with rehab!!  So I've played multiple games of Uno, Connect Four, Bingo, and lots of coloring! And while they may have both of their legs casted, these kids (and their caregive

The night is dark and full of terrors... Creepiest  thing about my nightshifts: the kids who slept with their eyes open. Also the nightmares of a kid waking up and yelling in Krio... Part of our service is to work night shifts during each scheduling block. Sometimes they said you could be by yourself and have the whole unit (more than 10 patients) under your care. As a California nurse, who abides by patient ratios, that freaked me out! But fortunately, I was on nights with 2 other nurses. We had some complicated kiddos who needed more monitoring and our unit is full! So I was not working night shift alone-which is nice :) Also, night shift here is just such a different vibe. First off-everyone is sleeping! As an ER nurse, night shift is usually "slower", but you're also working the entire time because patients keep coming in. None of my patients were sleeping during my ER shifts.  Secondly, our shifts are shorter! My night shift started at 10pm and went until 7:30am. The

 Me?! An Orienter?! SHUT UP.  2 weeks in! And the nurse educator has asked me to orient a new staff member to the unit and help them adjust...um mam. I'M NEW . I need to adjust! I don't know what I'm doing either! But I guess I never really know what I'm doing so thats not new. My poor mother always gets asked questions about, "How's Jenna? What's she up to? What's new?" and she never knows how to answer because I'm a terrible communicator and I also don't know what I'm doing in life either. hahaha.   But here we are! Lucky for me, I've just learned to say yes to things that interest me and I find that for the most part, things always work out. I truly believe there are more good people in the world than there are bad. And that the world is rigged to work in your favor if you put your best foot forward. And so far, it's worked out for me. I love my life. I love my family. I love my job. And I love my friends and fiance who have

Panic settled in. Bed bugs are an ER nurse's worst nightmare .  I will take C-Diff, COVID, Flu, diarrhea, TB, anything! But bed bugs?!?! And now I was so nervous I had them too hahahah Trying not to panic, I decided to go onboard to crew clinic and ask them. I woke with some bites on one arm after being back on the ship, and thought, "maybe they'll give me some trash bags and new sheets and just tell me to wash my clothes or something". But unfortunately I started a cycle talking to them that I could not jump out of after! They looked at my arm, and thought I could potentially have bed bugs, and then said they were going to move me and my new roommate (god bless her-brand new to the boat, and was concerned about getting off and into town as she is newer to traveling and is in Africa by herself, and didn't go to Banana Island) to an isolation room for a day, and have to fumigate our room, etc. And they wanted to know who I was with on Banana Island. Ugh. I should&

SPOILER ALERT: Did not see many bananas... Two days off in a row meant time for an overnight getaway!! A group of girls and I decided to sneak away to Banana Island for an overnight glamping trip! It started with an hour and a half drive to Kent Beach. Mind you, none of these cars have AC...and the windows are kept down for airflow, but with all the smog and trash burning going on outside...it's not the freshest of air. From there, we then boarded a boat for a very rocky 40 minute cruise to Banana Island!!  And straight to the bar for a refreshing drink and time to decompress. The glamping site was beautiful. Lots of trees, and a cute day bed to lay out on and relax. It was just what I wanted and needed after the constant stimulation and events going on on the ship. We dropped our stuff in the tents, and then were guided through the island on a 10 minute walk to the other side to a "swimming beach".  Now I'm going to sound just like a spoiled brat, but after living in