Monday, September 20
After a week of nights in the hospital, switching to days in the clinic was a nice change. Since not every patient needs to see a nurse, I spent most of my day at the front desk. We are their first stop when they arrive at the clinic. They give us their hospital book, and in it we record their blood pressure, temperature, pulse, weight, what they need to talk to the doctor about, their address, age, and occupation. Then, we also have a giant black book that we write their name, address, age, and occupation. We then charge them for the consultation, send them to the waiting room, put their book on the doctor’s desk, and start all over with the next patient. After the patient has seen the doctor, we record in the black book what the diagnosis is, and what the treatment will be. I know everyone in the waiting room had a few good laughs at my expense while I was talking to the patients. When Helen would ask questions I could hardly hear her, but obviously, it was loud enough because the patient heard her. When I would ask questions, I felt like I was shouting at them but they still didn’t get what I was saying. When they finally understood and replied, I had no clue what they had said. Several times I could hear the others in the room snickering at our communication problems.
Tuesday, September 21
We had a little patient with malaria that came up to the hospital for a quinine drip. The poor little chap had such fragile veins that we ended up having to put his IV in three different times. The first two one of the other nurses started, but when the third one came around she told me that it was my turn. Thankfully, he had cried himself to sleep after the first IV, so I wouldn’t have to worry about him screaming and moving around while I was trying to stick a needle in his arm. I tied the tourniquet around his arm, cleaned the area with spirit, and picked up my needle. I placed it above the only thing that looked remotely like a vein, and looked at Lea for confirmation. She nudged it back a few centimeters to where I couldn’t see anything that even kind of looked like a vein, “here,” she told me. “Here?” I thought, “Shouldn’t I go where there is a vein?” I sent up a quick prayer for guidance, and gently pushed through the delicate skin. Almost immediately I got the flashback, I couldn’t believe it! Lea helped me tape it down, and we opened up the line to let the rest of his fluids infuse.
Later, I gave another IV injection. It started out a little rough, but when I finished the man told me that was the most painless injection he’s ever had, and that I am a great nurse. I’m not sure if he was telling the truth, or if he was just being nice, but either way, he made my day!
Wednesday, September 22
I spent most of the day at the hospital making sure our second inpatient was doing ok. Two weeks earlier he had tested positive for HIV. His is a very sad and probably fairly common story. He has to have several blood tests before he can get the free HIV medications, but he can’t afford the tests. His mother doesn’t even know what is wrong with him, and he doesn’t want to get the rest of his family tested. I’m sure it’s a very tough place to be in.
When the little boy with malaria had finished his second infusion of quinine, I removed the IV and taped a piece of cotton over the small dot of blood that had appeared. Almost as soon as I’d finished, he reached down and removed the tape and cotton, wadded them up in his tiny fist, and then handed it back to me. He didn’t want any reminders of his stint in the hospital.
Our last outpatient of the day was a young girl whose eye was bothering her. When I told Lea that we had someone there, she nudged me forward and said, “You consult her.” I had no idea what to do. I hadn’t even eavesdropped on a consultation before. What little I did know to do, quickly escaped my mind. Lea began telling me things to do, until she finally just took over the consultation. I was thankful and I’m sure our patient was too. I tried to pay close attention to everything Lea asked or did so next time, I will know better what I need to do.
After work, Bill and Trixy invited the Peace Corps Volunteers, along with Cherilyn and me, over for games and food. We didn’t actually get much playing done, but we got to eat some fantastic peanut butter cookies, and had some good conversation. All in all it was a good night.
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