Aloha Adventures

 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

 Two weeks in! And all is well on the boat.  Finally getting into the groove of ship nursing a little bit more, getting to know the kids, and they are finally becoming their little gremlin selves again! Most are 4-5 days post op or more, and they are up and awake and wanting to wheel around in wheelchairs and play games and "dance" and are more active! Which is GREAT!!!! But also terrible for my back hahah.  So many of our kids have both of their legs casted, which means they are still not walking, and have to be lifted to and from bed. To and from the wheelchair. To and from the toilet. To and from the bedpan. We only work 8 hour shifts on the boat, but I worked 3 day shifts in a row and let me tell you...I was tired. And my back was tired. I don't think I'm out of shape...but I'm also not used to lifting 100 lbs kids up and down for 8 hours a day, 4 days a week. Also, we never got training on how to properly lift these kids with their casts and appropriate bo

I felt like a child the night before going to Disneyland. I could not sleep last night. I was so anxious? Excited? Nervous? Just too wound up to relax and sleep well. But here we go anyways… First shift I ever had was on a Friday, when they wear fun scrubs! My parents bought me this scrub shirt from Hawaii when I first became a nurse 💕 I have a few at home and decided to bring one to donate to the ward after my service! So let’s get to it!! Day one was amazing. I was orienting today and technically had 2 patients. But our other patient went to OR first thing in the morning and was gone my entire shift. And my second patient was so cute!!! 💕 she was post operative day 1 and was tolerating the procedure well. Strict bedrest, so wasn’t able to get out of bed or ambulate yet. We colored and talked and hung out. She only had one of her legs operated on so wasn’t as big of a procedure as some other kids. Honestly it felt…too easy? Too good? I’m nervous for my next shift since t

Today I had the beautiful opportunity to fellowship at a local prison here in Sierra Leone. The group consisted of me, two other nurses, a mercy ships minister, a local chaplain working with Mercy Ships, and a local pastor who has been involved in the prison ministry. We drove approx 1 hour from the ship our of town to where the prison was located. The drive itself was a nice way of seeing more of Sierra Leone without walking on the street.  Once we arrived at the prison, we were greeted by the prison pastor who guided us through their security metal gates and then we handed over our phones, no phones allowed! The prison itself was a big open "courtyard" with high concrete walls. There were maybe 3 concrete buildings I could see? 2 concrete blocks for housing inmates and then the building we used during worship. But majority of inmates were free to roam about the grounds and I believe there may have only been 10 inmates that were actually incarcerated behind bars. Unf

Ward Orientation: ✅  Ships Orientation: ✅ Paperwork: ✅ Still getting lost: ✅ But here we are! First day "off" with no responsibilities and decided to venture off ship to see the local port and town. To everyone who said "DON'T GET OFF THE SHIP!!" ... I. AM. SORRY. But did you reallllllly think I would just stay on board?!? You all should know me better than that 🙈 Anywaysssss, to get off the ship, you have to badge out so they can keep track of the crew mates. We then walked up the port, passed 3 security gates , and onto the streets of Freetown. I went with two other girls who had gone out the day before, and one other "newbie". We just walked around and ended up veering right down a street and found ourselves CRAMMED in the middle of a local market. There were food vendors everywhere, fish splayed out on the street, locals carrying buckets on their heads, slammed elbow to elbow just pushing down the street. And once you were in, there was no way ou

Hebrews 12:12-13  Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.   Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Mostly it's been all orientation stuff. New crew orientation, ward orientation, ship orientation, and just getting my bearings. Like I said in my previous post, there was a huge group of us who just got on board and are all learning together, which is nice! I don't feel so new and so alone. Everyone has been great and super friendly.  I will be working as a ward nurse in C-Ward, the pediatric orthopedics unit! To be honest, I'm a bit nervous. I've never really loved peds, and kids kinda freak me out, but maybe thats a good thing! Whenever I don't feel totally comfortable doing something, or feel "clunky" with a skill, I usually try to seek it out on the unit and do it over and over with another nurse. That way I don't feel so intimidated. The anxiety leading up to something I feel is always

Today’s the dayyyyyy!!! It started with me going to bed at midnight (which I usually do) but then waking up at 2:45am to start my day! From there, I drove to Stockton to leave my car with my parents, and I then drove 1.5 hrs with my dad and brother to San Francisco international airport! Unfortunately, I was still 2.5 hrs early for my flight, so I grabbed a coffee, listened to a new episode on my podcast, and scrolled mindlessly on Instagram.  Next was a 4 hr 55 minute flight (which was delayed as usual-shout out United) and then an hour layover in Washington DC before boarding my 7 hr 25 minute flight to Brussels (which was also delayed and overbooked-United)  I was exhausted from my minimal sleep, so I took some Benadryl hoping it would make me sleepy for my long flight…it. did. not. I got some intermittent sleep, 30 minutes at a time, but was so uncomfortable in my economy seat with no leg room. Especially since they had no overhead space (again-United overbooked) s

5 days till I leave?!? Let the panic settle in. I  still have not packed AT ALL and am pretty much at a loss on WHAT to pack. I need to make sure the clothes I pack are “appropriate” to the culture of Mercy Ships and Sierra Leone, and that I don’t offend anyone. So,  what’s the weather like? Do I need to pack “business” or church clothes? Do I need laundry pods/soap? Do I need an outlet adapter? What voltage?! How much time do I get off the ship? How long are my hours? Can I travel far and need an overnight bag? Are bathrooms shared? Do I need shower shoes/caddy? Do I need my own towel?! Should I buy cell service? Should I take foreign currency? What is the currency?!?   Hm. All good questions that should be answered in time.  But until then, happy new year!! And may your year and life be full of wonder and adventure!