So up until now,
I have only been focusing on my job as the OR Educator. Mondays I spend most of the day doing
orientation with all the new nurses that arrive. With such a high turnover rate in the OR, it
isn’t uncommon to have 4-7 new nurses a week, that can be 1/3 of the staff in
the OR! The rest of the week, I try to
focus on the education of our Day Crew- organizing classes, preceptors, &
training opportunities. When I’m not do
any of that, I am sitting at a computer doing ordering & other tasks that
need to be done. There just never seems
to be enough hours in the day.
Everyone gathers to say Thank You to Dr Itengre before he leaves |
But all that has
been put on the back burner for the time being as I don another hat. VVF OR Team Leader. VVF started 6 weeks ago. We had a rocky start trying to get our ladies
from all over the country to the ship in time for screening & surgery. But because of that delay, we were able to
focus on another overlooked group of women- women who have GYN issues that
aren’t fistulas. These are women with
uterine prolapses or cystoceles & rectoceles (where the bladder or rectum
prolapses into the vagina). This is a
new adventure in surgery for the ship- we are just starting a Women’s Health
program. It seemed to be a success.
The ladies have fun on Deck 7 |
As team lead, I
work closely with the Ward VVF Team Leader, Steph. She & I were team leaders last year in
Guinea & get a long fabulously, I can’t tell you how awesome it is that I have
her as a counterpart in all this. Together
with our surgeons- Dr Itengre Ouedraogo, a surgeon from Burkina Faso living in
Niger & Dr Sunday Lengmang, a surgeon from Nigeria, & an awesome team
of nurses in the OR & the ward, we work to restore these beautiful women’s
dignity & self worth.
Let the party begin! |
There have been
challenges, non-ideal outcomes, long days, even longer nights, but through it
all you just need to step onto the ward & see all the smiling faces & hear
the laughter to know that this is where we are supposed to be right now. Throughout the day & even in the evening,
we can hear singing coming from Deck 3 (where the hospital is). This is our ladies going for a walk up &
down the hall, singing & dancing. It
truly is something that needs to be experienced.
The first of many dress ceremonies |
As always, we
have a dress ceremony for our ladies who are healed, no longer leak urine or
feces & are ready to be discharged.
It’s like a graduation ceremony; only instead of a diploma the ladies
receive the greater gift of hope. The
colors of their dresses & the jewelry only enhance their natural
beauty, making them stunning to look
at. It is a time of hugs & kisses,
dancing & singing, telling their story & tears, all rolled into one
short emotional rollercoaster.
A grateful lady thanks Dr Itengre |
Beautiful smiles |
Blessings
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