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A Nursing Decision Reinforced in Haiti
Ashley Stockwell
Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, Georgia, United States of America
Article Text
Exemplars published in Contemporary Nurse are personal narratives describing a person's experience or intervention that has an impact on a patient or group of patients. However, in my situation, my story is of how a country of patients impacted me, a future nurse. I have not always wanted to be a nurse. My mother is an advanced practice nurse, and all my life I thought I knew what constitutes the role of a nurse. I never thought a nursing career would be my study of focus. During my sophomore year of college a career decision had to be made. I had to decide my major, henceforth, deciding what direction my life was going to take and my impact on society. I struggled a lot that year with who I wanted to become. Nothing seemed to move or inspire me. I looked into nursing because I read that this occupation was in demand. I registered for some of the prerequisite nursing courses for the Fall of 2004. In the summer of 2004 my mother asked me if I wanted to join her on her annual trip to Leogane, Haiti. She, along with some other church members, travel annually to Haiti to participate in a week of medical mobile health clinics. I agreed to go because I thought going to Haiti would be an interesting experience and also a good chance to travel. We left Atlanta at 6:00 am in the morning on September 18th and I watched as the United States slipped out of view. At that point I had no idea how my perception of life was going to change.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Glancing at Haiti superficially one sees extreme poverty. A deeper glance into the heart and soul of the country's people reveals so much more. The people of Haiti are rich. Haitians are rich not in money but in spirit. Everyday is merely a struggle for survival, a struggle to obtain enough food for that day, enough water to drink and yet they were open to people like me.
Everyday we woke up in the heart of Leogane and drove to our destined mobile clinic site. Each day we would arrive at our site with lines of people waiting to be seen with varying types of diseases and health problems. This was my first experience in participating in a medical mobile clinic. I personally performed initial screening tasks which included the taking of vital signs - temperature, blood pressure, pulse and respiration rate. I notified the practitioners if I saw a very sick child or adult so that they could be seen right away. When the opportunity afforded itself, I sat with the nurse practitioners observing while they assessed and treated patients. I believe I learned more that week than I could have learned in a semester of classes. I was able to learn by performing 'hands on tasks' after being taught by the nurse practitioners. I performed simple treatments: calculating and dispensing Tylenol to children, cleaning wounds, applying topical treatments and then dressing the wounds, irrigating eyes and giving ear treatments. For many, our mobile clinics were the only opportunity for medical assistance of any kind. Many people would travel miles on foot and wait for hours to be seen. One personal incident that I vividly recall occurred on the last day of our clinics. A girl of about five or six years of age was brought into the clinic by her mother. This was her first experience with any medical person and it was very obvious that this young child was frightened. With the language barrier it was hard to explain that we were only trying to help. The young girl had a skin infection, a very high fever, and an ear infection. I was asked by the nurse practitioners to dispense Tylenol to the child to bring down her fever. This was the moment I decided that pediatrics may not be for me. It took two or three adults to hold her down while one of us gave her Tylenol through a syringe. When all was said and done we could only laugh at ourselves because we were absolutely covered in red, liquid medicine.
The Haitians believed I was an experienced nurse. They looked to me for healing. In their eyes I could see they were grateful. For the Haitians, we represented hope. We served as a sign that God had not forgotten about their little country. To the Haitians, we were angels. I fell in love with the people of Haiti, and with their country. It was there, among the dirt and grime that I decided to become a nurse. I decided then to be a nurse not because it would be a secure job but because I wanted to be an angel to many more. I want to heal the sick and provide a light of health.
We saw over 450 patients in four days. Even now when I close my eyes I can still see their faces. I sometimes even smell the sweet scent of sugarcane that lingers in the air. I will return there as often as I can. Because of that country and because of those people a nurse was born. I encourage any student struggling with a career decision to consider stepping out of the US 'comfort zone' and experience the caring for people in a third world country. Today I think to myself, if I was able to help so many people have a chance at a healthier life in just one week in Haiti, imagine how many people I can help in a lifetime.
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