Days 2 and 3

Nursing Station

Well, I have completed day 2 and 3 of my hospital work. Today was very slow, we didn't have any admissions. I am starting to remember what I found most frustrating about working overseas, and that is the slow pace of life.  Honestly, the workload of the entire unit could be done by one nurse from the hospital that I used to work at.  The parents do most of the care, leaving the nurses to just administer medications.  There were four nurses today, including myself.  That means that there is about only one patient per nurse.  Much of the day is spent talking and eating.  There is a special concern over my eating habits to the staff, and the kitchen will often call the floor to tell me to come eat.

Intake/med room/1 of 2 sinks

I did get my own patient today.  Little Salah is a little girl who was born with severe congenital defects.  You can see in the picture that she has a trach, 6 fingers on her right hand, and deformed ear canals.  I have not been able to find out more about her condition, but I think that even in America there would be little that could be done for her.  She requires almost constant suction, feeding through her NG tube, and is on an antiepeleptic drug phenobarbitol.  She is going to stay until her mother "psychologically accepts her condition" and has learned to care for her.  I think that this will happen soon.  The mother would not allow me to touch her or play with her two nights ago, but today the mother picked her up and cooed to her and was able to perform feeding and suction.  At the end of shift, I was told to give report.  Sif, the head nurse, was there for report and I assumed that he would translate.  I said that the infant was stable, was not needing suction as often, but that the mother needed to understand the importance of checking residue prior to feeding.

An empty patient room

I am learning a lot.  I inserted my first NG tube, although I wish that it had not been on a baby of a month old.  All patients get an IV, and scalp IV's are not inserted by the doctor, so I am terrified when I will first do this.  There are only two sinks on the floor with liquid soap and paper towels, so I carry a bottle of Purel which I share with the other nurses.

What I wouldn't give for my maternal and child textbook!