Nursing Notes

I must confess...I took the flip flops off right before heading out the door to work. It just went against every nursing fibre in my body...
So if you're not a nurse this following bit may bore you. Just finished my 2 orientation shifts back to back (ie. evening shift ends at 10 pm, sleep for 6 hrs, then day shift starting at 7am). My patients on my first shift were all VVF ladies (women having surgery to repair a hole in their bladder caused from prolonged labour, that causes them to dribble urine constantly. Often these women are abandoned by their husbands because of this and become social outcasts). Many of these women are the ones I wrote about earlier who have come from the north of Benin and do not speak French or Fon. Many of them have never been in Cotonou, have never seen the ocean and have never been in the hold of a ship, awaiting surgery, surrounded by white people. All a little scary for them. And it's a little sad to see them walking in with a big wet patch on the back of their dress! But.....help is at hand:)
The wards will definitely take some getting used to. I know I will appreciate so many things when I get back to work in Canada...simple things like blood pressure machines on wheels, overhead bed tables, space...., beds with buttons, space...did I mention that already. Most of the wards have 2 rooms with 5 beds against each wall, with about 1.5 feet between the beds. The beds are very simple beds, with ancient railings I have not yet tried to move..pretty much cots with railings. Some of the beds have mattresses underneath where a family member sleeps. I believe many of our supplies are donated from around the world, so so far I have seen medication boxes in German, and some script I could not decipher (?Arabic). And there is a sad lack of pens...if anyone has worked with me you will know, I am always losing my pens. Please send me pens:)
Today was a far more challenging day though. I had my second day of orientation with a pediatric nurse and had a crash course in peds! We had a young patient who had major maxillofacial surgery the previous day, to remove a massive!! tumour! The poor little guy just had one swollen eye peeping through all his bandages (extra bits: nasal trumpet, NG tube, foley, penrose drain in his mouth, packing in his mouth, JP drain from his head, IV, SL,...bandages...q 1 urine output, q2 IV meds, q3 NG feeds, glucoscans, q4 vital signs...and 6 other patients!!! eeh...thankfully I was orientating. We also had one tiny little patient 2. 6 ish kg, with a cleft palate, who was part of the refeeding program on the ship. So cute:) and slowly gaining weight.
Well tomorrow will be the first day on my own. Say a little prayer for me!