First days on the ward

I have finished two shifts on the ward so far. I have been working evenings and will be the rest of the week. I was nervous about my first shift and it was hard to be a "newbie" again. I don't like change at first! I have been at my job at Ruby for four years now. It was also hard because there are so many first time nurses that we weren't able to be precepted into our roles. It all worked out though. After all, the majority of us are in the same boat, literally! The language barrier is a little frustrating to me too. The national language is French here and the major tribal language is Fon. I took Latin in high school and I only know a tiny bit of Spanish from being in Honduras. It is funny how I want to say what little Spanish I know when I'm in a pinch. We have many helpful translators here who are called our day volunteers. There are always some on duty. They also help us by cooking the patient meals and serving them and by keeping the ward clean. They are invaluable!
The patients I have taken care of right now have just had minor problems so far. The general surgeon is here repairing hernias, goiters, and lipomas. We also have many children with bowed legs for the ortho. surgeon. The Africa Mercy and the ward are both a tightly run ship, quite literally. Things on the ward are much like any floor would be back at home. I have a 5 patient assignment with admissions and discharges and the charting is less than at home but still inclusive. We have clinical pathways that certain surgeries fall into that gives us protocol to follow. The meds are at one central place and we have narcotics in a locked box that two nurses co-sign. The formulary is quite a bit less though. Most of the time patients only need Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or Coedine after surgery to lessen the pain. We have morphine, but I haven't needed to give it yet. I am enjoying not having to pass umteen morning or evening meds. and of course not having those annoying wireless phones that ring every 10 seconds! Some of the older patients show up with untreated hypertension and we do treat that with beta blockers or calcium channel blockers. We send them home with two weeks worth of pills and tell them to go to a pharmacy to get more when those run out. Upon discharge every patient also gets a month supply of multivitamins and iron tablets to aid in the wound healing process. The patients are very appreciative for all we do for them.
It is not uncommon to have a praise and worship session break out when the translators bring in the drums and shakers. It is fun to see all the patients respond. The Jesus film and other bible stories are shown on videos on the t.v.'s. I also love the fact that we start each shift in prayer before we hand off to the next nurse. Each day I am feeling more comfortable here. I am looking forward to getting off the ship this weekend though to explore more of the town. So far I have only been off to go to church and one outing.

A dream come true

I arrived in Benin on Friday evening at about 8:30 after two flights from Washington to Paris and then on to Cotonou totalling 14hours. I didn't get any sleep on the planes overnight, so needless to say, I was soo tired when I arrived. It took us another 2 hours to get through customs and get our baggage. There were 18 crew on this arrival and the guards aren't used to us yet here. They tried to keep our passports and not accept our Mercy Ships visas, but we managed to get through. The airport is only 10mins. away from the port. Then we got in one of the land rovers and drove to the ship. When I finally saw the Africa Mercy for the first time in person I wanted to be more excited, but I was sooo tired from traveling that all I wanted to do was get to my cabin and go to bed! I guess I have seen the ship soo much over the years that it looked no different in person. We were greeted by the other crew, photographed for our badges, treated to cookies (or biscuts) and drinks, and then escorted to our cabins. I have a 6 berth (5 roomates) cabin. We are from all over the world and affectionately call it the UN crew! We represent South Africa, Canada, the US, and England so far.
On Saturday we were taken on a tour of the ship and given the weekend free to settle into our new home. Sunday I went to church with another nurse who has been here with the advance team that scopes out the town before the ship arrives. We went to a more western church that was in both French and English. It was surprising to me to see that some of the people dress more western and wear gold jewelery with diamonds. Some others wear the traditional linen typle African prints. The church service lasted 3 hours-to be expected in other cultures. I quickly learned that on the streets I will be called "yavo" meaning "white person. On the way to church a group of kids shouted and waved at us as we passed by. There are also the typical street vendors trying to sell their wares.
The accents around here are very fun and interesting to me. When everyone arrives, there will be 30 countries represented. I have made a couple of friends so far and we have exchanged lingo. Many people think I am from the south with my "accent", although the Texans, Virginian's and North Carolinians have me beat!
This week we are all orienting to our areas on board. Things are still being set up since the ship just arrived in port last week. The Beninese are just getting used to us also. The fleet of land rovers has not been cleared for use into the town as of yet. The surgical screenings will start on Thursday and the first surgeries on Tuesday with admissions on Monday. I'm a bit nervous and scared about all this starting. Fortunately, there are about 12 other new nurses starting as well.
It has actually been harder to adjust here than I originally thought. I guess I underestimated the 6 hour jet-lag and there are so many people here. I have been used to just me in my little house. It can be quite challenging to find a quiet place by yourself even as big as the ship is.
As I get more used to blogging, I will add photos and make it more snazzy:0)