Follow along with me as I travel to Sierra Leone to work onboard the Global Mercy Ship as a ward nurse.
*Disclaimer*
All posts below are personal thoughts and experiences regarding my time with Mercy Ships and does not represent the company itself.
Ruth
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
This is about a patient girl named Ruth.
This strong, sassy teenage girl who stole all our hearts. She was one of the first patients I took care of during this field service and poor girl has been put through the ringer. For all her time on the ward, she has always been strong willed and loving towards the nurses. She's still is a teenage girl mind you. Sometimes I'd come on shift, and she'd be "mad" at me, or giving me side-eye. Then write me notes or songs, and want to hug and hold hands. She'd get jealous of spending time or playing games with other patients. My goodness! The exhausting emotions to be a labile teenage girl again!
Ruth and her mom prior to admission
Ruth's legs getting wrapped by Rehab
But in the end, she had a little sign by her bed where she wrote the names of her 3 nurse BFF's. And I was one of them! AH! How cool am I?! hahahah I now maybe understand a small part of when parents are finally cool to their kids. Why I care that I'm cool to Ruth is beyond me. But it was a sweet kind gesture and made me feel like I'm actually connecting to these kids, and maybe making a difference in their hardships here.
Ruth and girl gang!
She wrote me a valentine on Valentines day, gave me a sorry note one day when she was mad, wrote me a goodbye note when I left, and has a million silly filter photos on her phone she took of us during my time. I'm sad I won't be able to see her full course of treatment, or be there for her when she walks or discharges, but I'm happy to know she's in good hands with my fellow crew mates who love her as much as I do.
Ruth laughing at our dancing during Veranda time
The salone song Ruth assigned to me and we'd dance to!
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...
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...
Comments
Post a Comment