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We either never had, or ran low, on so many basic items- no NG tubes for inserting through the nose and into the stomach to get fluids into a patient, no IV extension tubing, few IV poles, not enough cots and cholera beds, and when gowns to cover patients ran low they were replaced with bits and pieces of clothing from our own suitcases and then with plastic garbage bags. When we ran out of patient cleaning materials, a bucket of bleach water and a mop were used to clean patients. Patients who were confused or demented and were pulling out their IV’s were often primitively restrained by the Haitian staff. We learned to work with extra large gloves and a limited choice of IV needle sizes. We learned to place IO IVs using a simple 16 gauge needle, and place external jugular IV’s when we could not find a peripheral vein. We turned our headlamps off when not performing critical tasks so we could conserve batteries. When certain supplies ran low we made difficult decisions on how they would be allocated. And when a patient died and we had no body bags to place them in- our transporters simply wrapped them in whatever they could find and carried them over to a space near the fire pit to hopefully be claimed in the morning. Every night at some point the generators would stop and we would be immersed in total darkness lit only by the headlamps of our team. After one such blackout we went into the men’s tent only to find a patient missing- no one seemed to know where he had gone- after an exhaustive search his lifeless body was found by the fire pit. We were never able to get a clear story regarding who declared him dead or moved him. And when our US physician left and we were without a doctor we remembered his words- “Do what you can, you are all they have.” Over the course of five days, a thousand patients, tears, laughter, life and death- we became a close team, forged by experiences and enduring conditions we could not have imagined upon our arrival in Haiti. We became friends, colleagues, teachers, mentors, and “shoulders to lean on”. We found strength in each other during even the darkest moments. One of our team members shared a great way to deal with the darkness advising each of us to find “a face to remember”- the face of one patient for who you know you made a difference. For me it was a young child named “Evans” who when I first carried him from triage to the children’s tent was unresponsive, severely dehydrated, and had only a femoral pulse. Three of us worked on Evans for over three hours to find IV access, finally succeeding in placing two IO needles in his legs so we could get the vital fluids his body so desperately needed running. For the rest of the night Evans showed little improvement. Early in the morning we again attempted to find a peripheral vein for an IV and as we attempted to stick the IV in his arm he suddenly tried to bite our interpreter who was holding him down. Three hours later Evans was sitting up and as I left that morning gave me a fist bump and the most beautiful smile! Even now as time and miles separate us and our memories begin to blur and our stories begin to fade- we will remember this: Together we saved lives, we made a difference… Aashika, Amanda, Deborah, Jane, Mandy, and Dr Phouc Le- Thank you for being there and for what you do! To our friends at J/P HRO- you brought us together… To the Haitian staff at Hopital Ste. Therese- you are an amazing, dedicated group of people! And to our family and friends- Thank you for your love, compassion, faith, and support which allows us to do what we do.
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Relationships among the Elderly: The Effects on One’s Health and Psychosocial Well Being
Advances in medicine are allowing many adults to live longer lives than previous generations. In fact, the elderly population is becoming one of the largest growing sectors of the present ...
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Nurse’s Legal Plight
A poem...!
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Culturally Competent Nursing in Homecare
Homecare nurses must be culturally aware in order to appropriately care for homecare patients. Culture plays a part in the care of all types of patients but it plays a more important role in homecare.
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The Importance of Supporting Mothers Who Breastfeed
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Looks Can Be Deceiving
I asked his family to step out for a moment so I could empty his JP drains. I emptied them into a basin and I noticed that they were very dark. I inspected them a little closer and I noticed it had a ...
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Maximizing Pain Relief in Pediatric Patients
Pain management is a complex issue that has become increasingly significant in the nursing profession; so much so that the assessment of pain has become known as the fifth vital sign. This issue ...
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TO GOWN OR NOT TO GOWN?
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that standard precautions should be used for all patients and should be enough to prevent the spread of most MRSA cases. However, in acute-care settings ...
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Keeping a Positive Outlook: My Clinical Experience as a Student Nurse
My experience in my senior year clinical preceptorship was without a doubt unique but I feel its uniqueness was in what I made of it, something every nursing student can do for themselves. If there ...
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Family Presence During CPR in the Emergency Department
A descriptive survey conducted in 2000 (Myers, et al 2000) investigated attitudes and beliefs of patients’ families and ER staff members about FWR. The survey reported that 98% of patients’ ...
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Managing Diabetic Patients on Dialysis: The Nurse and Practitioners Role in Multidisciplinary Team Essentials
The chronic state of diabetes mellitus (DM) mainly type II, is an increasingly common cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in all countries, accounting for 51% of dialysis patients in the U.S. and ...
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A Solution for Solving the Nursing Shortage? Advantages and Disadvantages of Recruitment of Foreign-Trained Nurses
The Nursing shortage is not only an American dilemma but a phenomenon threatening the entire global community. Developed, as well as undeveloped, countries are experiencing an increasing number of ...
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Memories from a Haitian Cholera Treatment Center
In January and February of this year I worked in Haiti with United States NDMS DMAT and ImSurt teams providing medical and surgical care to the victims of the January 12th earthquake. What I ...
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