First day of school vibes!


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 things tend to go wrong when you don’t have as many resources, and I won’t have a preceptor then! I like for it to be more complicated when I have a preceptor, because then I know how to handle things when I DONT have one! Hahah if that makes sense? But I guess the good thing as a nurse is that you’re never alone. So I’m sure there will be other help around for us 💕 


At shift change, day shift takes all the patients from all wards that are NOT on bedrest out to the veranda for an hour/hour and a half outside time. It’s great! There’s music, and little bicycles, and the patients alll love it since they think it’s freezing in the wards with the AC 😂 they all have proper winter coats and beanies on while in the hospital. And if they live further away from Freetown (inland tribes in Sierra Leone) they even think it’s cold outside! It’s 85 degrees with 80% humidity…we talk, play games, listen to music. It’s great because we also have “day crew” on the wards, who are local people who assist with translating and nursing care, and help facilitate community with our patients and their families. Today, day crew decided to give me a “Sierra Leone” name, and called me Aminata 😂 which hopefully is a good thing!! And they gave me a last name, and a region, and a tribe! And we were just all joking around and enjoying the outdoors before returning to the wards. All in all, a pretty successful first day 💕 stay tuned for more shenanigans! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Days In

Image
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
Read more

So What Is Mercy Ships?!?

Image
 Cool! Great! So I’m going to go volunteer in Africa for 2 months with Mercy Ships…what is a Mercy Ship? Mercy Ships is an international charity based organization that operates large non-governmental hospital ships staffed with volunteer professionals to bring hope and healing to developing nations. Since starting in 1978, Mercy Ships visited more than 73 developed and underdeveloped nations world wide, with a focus on countries in Africa. One of the main services Mercy Ships offers are lifesaving medical surgeries for families suffering from disfiguring, painful and preventable diseases.  In other words, I will be working on a big floating hospital stationed off the coast of Africa! Patients come to the ship for their surgery and recovery; and from my understanding, I will be stationed as a ward nurse ON the ship.  I will be volunteering onboard their newest ship, the Global Mercy. With 6 operating rooms, it weighs approximately 37,000 tons, is 174 meters in length, and staffs ov
Read more

SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!

Image
And not the fun kind.  I am officially medically cleared to travel to Africa! Got all my vaccinations in order; from typhoid, to yellow fever, hepatitis, Covid, tetanus and everything in between. Honestly, being a travel nurse definitely helped with that. I constantly need to get proof of immunity for my job through bloodwork and boosters, so I really only needed to pay for my typhoid and yellow fever vaccines. Which I STILL think was an absurd amount, $500 just for a yellow fever vaccine!? But according to them, it’s a one and done. So I never have to get yellow fever again. And I can continue to travel to Africa (which I technically already went to Morocco a few years ago unvaccinated so whoops)!  Now just need to pick up my malaria and gastroenteritis pills and should be set for medical.  All that’s left is packing, planning, flights, and transportation to be done within the next 31 days. And just add in my nightshift job, Christmas, new years, birthdays, and a little bit of fun an
Read more