Working with Nursing Admissions

Bonjour mes amis et la famille.

One of my favorite parts of working on board Mercy Ships is the ability to serve on different departments and culminate new experiences. The past week and a half, a wonderful nurse named "Frankie" (from Florida) gave me two opportunities to join her in the admissions clinic. The clinic is located within a tent just off board the ship. On a regular basis "Frankie" sees people ranging in ages from approximately a year to well over 40 from all walks of life. During my visit to the clinic, we were able to see a young boy of approximately 1 year who was coming in for an indirect hernia repair. The mother and son had traveled from a relatively obscure village a few hours outside of Tamatave, and looked a little bit exhausted; They were in relatively good spirits however seeing as they knew they were going to get excellent health care for no cost at all! It was quite an experience to see leap of faith taken by the mother. She had taken her baby from her secure home to be seen by a group of strangers who want to fix her baby by not only taking blood samples but by using "sharp objects" repair an indirect hernia! The mother seemed very trusting and gave her consent to everything we had to offer, from blood transfusions to photos during recovery for Mercy Ships. As a side note, the child did not even cry or wimper upon receiving a "finger poke" to receive blood samples, nor did it seem afraid of the pulse oximeter. To help, the teddy bears that we gave to the children post blood sampling seemed to help calm some nerves!

What really blew me away about this example was the impact Mercy Ships has had in the world. The word of the hospital ship that performs "miracles" or free surgeries has clearly run its course all over Madagascar since its docking October 28, 2014.

Another man, well over 40 came in for another hernia repair. He works in construction when times are good, but odd jobs when times are not. The economy in Madagascar is not too hot, so finding a job is really NOT easy at all as I have heard from many of the Malagasy coworkers I have had the honor of working with. This man was very strong and did not show weakness in really any area. He seemed to be very happy to be seen by our staff seeing as not everyone who shows up to screening days can be taken in for surgery.

As keeping with my previous blogs, I am honored to have worked with health care workers who really capture why I and many others want to pursue such a career. It is not for money nor prestige, but it all boils down to holding relations with others and through these relations, having a direct change in others lives for the better. Medicine and dentistry are two very efficient vehicles to deliver this change.