World of Ward Craft

Ohhh weeee what a crazy couple days it has been. Days start at 07:30 with the worlds quickest rounds with the attending surgeon starting in the ICU then heading to the ward. For my nursing friends that are reading, the ICU is more like the floor back home. It's an 10 bed unit where all the patient's go after any surgery. They typically recover and head to the ward the next day. I haven't seen any patient's requiring intubation, one requiring oxygen. It is very strange to walk into an ICU and see a pt sitting up in bed eating breakfast.

Then we head to the ward. Wooooo was this a shock my first time walking in. It's about 30 beds all spread into smaller inlets but no actual walls separating them. Lots of babies crying, I would say greater than 90% of the patients here are under a year. The rounds in the ward are as brief as they are in the ICU, and then the team disperses. I have been staying in the ward this week. I've spent the past few days trying to figure out their charting system and how things work here. It's funny how things can be so different but at the same time also very similar. Here the mothers are expected to do all baths, linen changes, wash their own bed sheets and a lot of the nursing care I'm used to doing in the states. It's a change I'm having a hard time getting used to, on my first day as I was changing the bed for a father, another nurse looked at me and said "why are you changing the bed?". It's stressful here in the ward, but the nurses are all very welcoming. We laugh often amongst the chaos. The diagnoses are very similar to my patient population back in the US, but much more severe. The cases of hydrocephalus especially, I've never seen heads so big in my whole life. But there is no denying how hard everyone works here and how passionate they are about helping these children get better.

Life at the guest house is great. We live a few steps away from the patients. At night I can hear babies crying until I put my ear plugs in. My roommates are fabulous. We're all from such different walks of life yet it's perfect. They're all interested in doing trips on our weekends so lots of fun things planned (like a safari at the end of my stay!! hello elephants!!)


Here are a few pictures that I've taken so far:

Below is a picutre of the line of mothers waiting for their babies to have their CSF tapped. This is usually done when they're waiting for OR or have an infection and can't go to the OR until it's cleared. Usually 6-10 taps are done a day.

 This is me with my new friends Martha, the clerk and Okinei my best nursing buddy enjoying tea. Tea time is strictly at 10 and 4 everyday and is never missed no matter what! African tea is da bombbbbbb.