With all the visitors here, we have three groups: “P.A.s,” “Pre-Meds” and
“Nurses.” There are three people in each group and I am in the nursing student
group. Each group will take a rotation through one area of the hospital for a
week, and then move on to another area. The first week, my team is in Medicine
Homme, Medicine Femme and Pediatrics. Because neither of the other girls
understand French or Lingala, so guess who had to translate? Yours truly.
Complete with all my mad ninja skillz in Lingala. NOT.
The girls were learning a new system, trying to understand/be understoood,
realizing how different medical work is here and having to adapt to
less-than-ideal circumstances, among other things. They’re nursing students,
with a lot of the training and knowledge of how things SHOULD be done, so their
first day was pretty confusing and frustrating.
This was my first time to be officially working in the wards and dealing
with the medical charts, so I had to learn fast how it all worked, take vital
signs, pass meds and translate for the girls and the nurse on duty all at the
same time. I think it was a frazzling morning for all three of us. I had to go
back and forth between several buildings to get various things. It would help
if we had more than one scale and more than one oxymeter. Oh well. Such is life
here.
The morning passed quickly, and I learned some more about nursing care.
Kristen, who is in her third year, kind of acted as an instructor to Malia and
I – but we also divided up patients to get things done quicker. I did my best
to translate between the girls and the patients and the girls and Liliane. I
definitely sensed the patients’ frustration at the fact that none of us could
speak Lingala very well, but I was doing my best!
1 comment:
Oh Kate Its so good to see pictures of you! I am sure you are quite good at speaking the language you are just to humble:) You seem to have learned a ton already!
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