West Africa, Take Two
As the wheels of the the airplane lifted off of the ground, I could not help but to feel excited. Last year at this time, I had been living in West Africa for 4 months serving as a nurse in a local hospital.
When I left West Africa in August of 2018 to be with my father who had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 Heart Failure, I never thought that I would be back there again in the same calendar year... but God.
Walking back into the hospital on Monday morning felt like home. I walked in, greeted my co-workers, checked the assignment board, and grabbed a “fiche de passation pour les infirmiers” (a patient care worksheet).
My first day back, my assignment looked like this: a septic patient with malaria who was recovering from a stillbirth, a patient with malaria and possible typhoid fever (an adult weighing only 30kg), a post surgery patient with sepsis, a patient with a presumed stroke/brain abscess, a patient with a left femur fracture and a pulmonary contusion, and a patient with possible new onset leukemia. This was honestly a relatively light assignment, on a busy and short-staffed day there’s a chance that I could have up to 15 or so patients. All with needs. All with medications to mix myself and give. Usually each with IV drips to count by hand without an IV pump. Some going to surgery, some being discharged, some who may be told that they might not make it at all.
To put it into perspective, at my hospital back home I would only ever be allowed to take 5 patients max, and that is a busy day. We usually take 3-4 patients. They each have IV’s that can be started by our vascular access team and pre-mixed medications that are delivered straight from the pharmacy.
Comparison aside, what I do here is not much different than what I do in The States, it’s the “how” I get it all done that varies greatly. Luckily, creativity is one of my strengths and I utilize that strength every single day here.
This is just a peek into some of the general comparisons of my work in West Africa and my work back in The U.S.A, I can’t wait to share more stories with you as I serve here over the next month!
Written by Megan Smith
2019 Global Health Collaboration Missions Scholarship Recipient
Working with World Medical Mission
Mango, Togo- Africa