Talk about a crazy exciting time in my life. I am in the middle of a six week stint living in Newfoundland doing my third year nursing preceptorship. During this clinical rotation I get to practice all my advanced nursing skills such as IV initiation, drawing blood, NG tubes, catheters, tracheas, chest tubes and so much other fun stuff! So far it’s been great, and I’ve been enjoying life here and love learning more about nursing and how to become better at my future profession.
On a slight side note, you might know that I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. At the end of the day, I decided to take a nursing degree because I want to do international missions work soon after I graduate. My greatest fear with my life is that I will settle down comfortably and forget my passion for helping people in less fortunate circumstances. I decided that nursing would better serve my long term goals and would still be useful anywhere in the world. To help keep my focus on missions involvement, I have always planned on taking a summer to get the feel for nursing in an international setting before I graduate. With graduation is in less than a year, this is the time.
A few months ago during midterms, I sent an email to a missions organization asking them about their nursing internships and if I could be used anywhere as a third year nursing student. I was simultaneously shocked, excited and terrified when I received an email telling me that certainly, I could be used. And by the way, would you like to go to Liberia?
Needless to say, midterm studying wasn’t particularly effective! After a lot of prayer, thought, and research, I decided to pursue the opportunity.
So here I am.
I am busy getting ready to head off to Liberia in about a month from now. I plan on being there for approximately two months, and I am getting super excited. I’ve started to research, think and work though getting the vaccines and medications I’ll need, getting everything on my packing list, keeping an eye on the flights, etc. I’ll get my last dose of the rabies vaccine tomorrow – exciting stuff, let me tell you. Although I have to say it’s probably a very good thing for me to know what it feels like when I’m poking needles into people all the time!
I will likely be working in a health clinic where I will see and help treat people suffering from malaria, cholera, hepatitis, and that type of thing. I also expect to see plenty of pregnant women – Liberia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. I will have limited access to medical technology and electricity, which I have never experienced before.
This will be hard, but I know it will be good for me on many levels. In addition to learning more about nursing, I’m excited to see how I grow spiritually from this experience. I know that as a result of this missions trip I will change in ways that I cannot even imagine.
