Day in the Life: HoH Edition

Heya Peeps!

As a new nurse a few years ago, I wrote some blog posts about a night in the life and a day in the life of my job. I'd go find them for you, but I got up at 5:30 to run a Turkey Trot this morning and already used up all of my overachieving energy for the day.

However, working as a nurse in Togo is maybe just sliiiightly different, so I thought I'd try to give you a taste/glimpse/whiff/feel/drift of what a day looks like for me here at the Hospital of Hope.

6:00am: Alarm goes off. Get dressed, eat breakfast, take my malaria prophylaxis, head out the door.

6:30ish: Drive my moto just over a mile to the hospital while braving the sand dunes that are forming on the road and the 'traffic' consisting of turkeys, mules, goats, school children, and many other motos. Cars are rare and don't cause traffic here.

6:36: Park at the guesthouse and drink a cup of coffee before the day begins.

6:56: Walk over to the hospital, greet everyone, look up which wards I am assigned (could be 1-13 patients), get my med sheets, get report (mostly in Frenglish), start to assess my patients.

That's where the schedule ends and the madness begins. I think at this point it's easier to make some lists to help catalog the day.

Types of patients I could work with on any given day
-Adults
-Adults intensive care
-Pediatrics
-Pediatric intensive care
-Overflow maternity patients
-Neonates
-Post surgical patients
-Patients in REA which is the ER area
-Outpatient injections and infusions

Things I do nearly everyday
-Give meds. This includes mixing most medications and doing all of the dosing calculations myself
-Calculate drip rates
-Measure feeds for some of the babies
-Crush one of a thousand bugs that made its way into the hospital
-Assessments
-Paper charting. I chart 1 main assessment, an update assessment, and anything notable that happens This takes maybe 20 minutes if I have a bunch of patients
-Respond to emergency patients in REA
-Put in my own IVs, give my own neb treatments, respond to codes, restock medications and supplies, clean, do EKGs, or any number of other things that I might have delegated back in the States
-Take a real 2 hour long break to eat lunch and rest and have energy to finish the day without having to carry a phone on me or eat on the unit
-Make a fool of myself mispronouncing French words and trying to act out various bodily functions or procedures
-Wash med cups so that we can reuse them
-Search around for equipment I need that is currently working
-Sweat
-Learn or experience something new

Notable things I DON'T do every day
-Tons of charting
-Take people to the bathroom. Families do this 95% of the time.
-Fetch water/coffee/snacks. Families are responsible for this.
-Answer half a million phone calls
-Ask dozens of questions to admit someone. A lot of patients don't even know their birthday, so most of the admission questions I'd ask would be kinda pointless.
-Do a lot of discharge teaching. I'm bummed by this cause I love teaching patients, and I am very limited by language and health literacy.
-Have everything double checked by a computer and scan everything to double/triple check the identity of a patient
-Answer call lights. I do however answer to family members who come and get my attention.

Common illnesses/issues
-Malaria. Often accompanied by seizures, severe anemia, and/or hypoglycemia
-Snakebites
-Fractures and injuries from accidents
-Meningitis
-Typhoid fever
-Respiratory distress from pneumonia or tuberculosis
-Premature infants
-Hernia repairs
-Cancers

Things that make my day
-All the siblings/children who hang out in the wards and stare at me but then smile when they learn how to fist bump. I also love the moms and grandmas who are so amused by the interaction.
-The way family members care for their loved one but will also step in to help someone else in the ward. They'll empty the bedpan or share food or help translate for someone they've never met.
-Getting an IV on a baby. Actually just getting IVs in general.
-Saying something in French and having the person actually understand it.
-Listening to the doctors or chaplains pray with patients.
-Seeing a child turn the corner, wake up, and start to eat and interact with you.

7-7:30pm: Give report. Say a prayer of thankfulness for getting through the day. Head home. Raid the fridge.

That's about all I got for now. Thanks for reading!
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for the students I get to work with in clinicals.
2. Pray for the many wonderful ministries going on here. It's exciting.
3. Pray for my relationships with my Togolese neighbors.

Praises:
1-10,000. Where to start? Let's just say everything.

Peace out,
-C-