Living here I have found that I have a whole lot of house visits from people who are sick. In Honduras, we lived fairly far away from the villages we worked in, but here, we live as every other Equatorial Guinean lives. We live in a house just like theirs, in a community where they live - we live much closer to how the average person lives then we ever did in Honduras. In Honduras we lived in the "upper class" neighborhood, so no one every visited us. Here, we live like the rest of the country does. Because of that we are much more accessible to the average Guinean. What that looks like is I have people coming to my door 2 - 3 times a week looking for medical help. Today that looked like a 2 year old that had vomiting since last night. No other symptoms - no fever, no diarrhea, no nothing. The rest of the assessment was totally benign. So, I gave him some Oral Rehydration Solution formula, and some parasite meds and sent him on his way. I admit, I feel totally out of my depth, I don't have labs to help figure out what is wrong, I don't have a medical degree to perhaps get a better understanding of what he may have - I only have my wits, my nursing degree, and a lot of hands-on experience to pull me through. This is more than most people here have, and I have to take comfort that I have given more than they are able to find at a local hospital, but I still have a feeling of complete inadequacy, a feeling of I'm "just" a nurse, and I know the limitations that I am...but I am praying that maybe oral rehydration solution, and some parasite meds will put him right...because that's all I can offer...I pray it is enough. The reality is -I have NO idea what is wrong with this child - with my limited resources, and my limited knowledge I can only make an educated guess. And in the grand scheme of things - I hope that that is enough...#feelinginadequate #justanurseThursday, April 13, 2017
The "doctor" is in...
Living here I have found that I have a whole lot of house visits from people who are sick. In Honduras, we lived fairly far away from the villages we worked in, but here, we live as every other Equatorial Guinean lives. We live in a house just like theirs, in a community where they live - we live much closer to how the average person lives then we ever did in Honduras. In Honduras we lived in the "upper class" neighborhood, so no one every visited us. Here, we live like the rest of the country does. Because of that we are much more accessible to the average Guinean. What that looks like is I have people coming to my door 2 - 3 times a week looking for medical help. Today that looked like a 2 year old that had vomiting since last night. No other symptoms - no fever, no diarrhea, no nothing. The rest of the assessment was totally benign. So, I gave him some Oral Rehydration Solution formula, and some parasite meds and sent him on his way. I admit, I feel totally out of my depth, I don't have labs to help figure out what is wrong, I don't have a medical degree to perhaps get a better understanding of what he may have - I only have my wits, my nursing degree, and a lot of hands-on experience to pull me through. This is more than most people here have, and I have to take comfort that I have given more than they are able to find at a local hospital, but I still have a feeling of complete inadequacy, a feeling of I'm "just" a nurse, and I know the limitations that I am...but I am praying that maybe oral rehydration solution, and some parasite meds will put him right...because that's all I can offer...I pray it is enough. The reality is -I have NO idea what is wrong with this child - with my limited resources, and my limited knowledge I can only make an educated guess. And in the grand scheme of things - I hope that that is enough...#feelinginadequate #justanurse
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I've never commented on your posts before, but I just wanted to let you know that I've been following you ever since I first decided to go to nursing school. I'm so intrigued by what God is doing through you and the ways you are letting Him use you. You are very inspiring to me, and reading about what you do, even as "just a nurse", encourages me as I reach the halfway mark of my RN degree and look towards someday doing medical missions as well. Thank you.
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