Many of our little ones that have been coming in are undergoing some pretty big operations. Many of my patients during my first few weeks on the ward have been clubfeet repair or femoral/tibial osteotomies to help their feet grow from bend... to straight again. This includes breaking, shaving, adding hardware and/or bending bones!!! Not the most fun as you can see from one of my little girls below. Pain control is a big issue and a daily battle, especially for the first 3 days. Ward A is hustling and bustling daily with many nursing tasks to keep these ones healing and comfortable.
Being one of a few pediatric nurses in our 4 wards, my patient assignments include getting the majority of the "trouble-makers" ( I would be too if scary white man broke my bones and made me not able to move and play in a big, scary cast!), so that the easier kids can go to those nurses who have never worked with the children patient poplations before.
Not only have these kids not seen many white people before, but many have never been in a hospital setting before, thats scary even for a mature adult!
Naturally I like a challenge, but I must be honest, these first few weeks have been very challenging at times. There are many hurdles to overcome here that I don't normally face in my job back home, a big one being trying to communicate things to the children and mothers through a translator. "Lost in Translation"....ha..... i've had some real doosies! Feeling run down by my crappy immune system lately, and a whole lot of crying and screaming children... i was feeling pretty down and really worn out.
I hit a wall last week and really started praying that God would restore my joy for working on the ward again. Thats when I really felt like he layed on my heart, Steph "SEE THE PEOPLE, NOT THE TASKS!" I am anal in my natural nursing nature and thrive on being one step ahead of the whatever may come next. With many other nursing hurdles that I won't go into, my BEST effort, sometimes is not enough or can't produce what I would like it to or get it done in time on my shift. I've had to learn when to let go of certain things so that I can really spend quality time with my patients as well, and find that needed time to laugh, rock, play, draw, blow bubbles and play games with them.
I think we all feel frustrations like this sometimes in our jobs. Even when we put everything we got into it, it doesn't seem enough. But I encourage you as well, to take the time out in our daily lives to not get so caught up in our duties, that we don't focus on the little souls right in front of us that need a little TLC. When our souls are content and cared for, many times the other little details work themselves out.
