Peace, Health, & Motivation

Well Hi There!

It's been a week since I've written...hope everything is good with you.
So what's been going on in Lesotho?

So wednesday I did a skills day where I helped teach the nurses @ Leribe hospital, just basic nursing skills. It was fun but rather upsetting. The healthcare system here, especially nursing, needs some work. The nurses are working 1 nurse to about 15 patients. The equivalent of our RNs are not doing daily assessments of their patients, not giving meds, leaving work early, and just not caring. I understand that the nurse-patient ratio is very intimidating, working conditions are shit, and drive and support are absent but people need care! People in Lesotho tend to become nurses because it is a secure job, not because it is a passion. This is upsetting as well but it gets into development and poverty issues which is a whole other story.



This is for the nursing people who are reading this- other people might not care about this section:

So we had to teach the nurses about VS, I&O,injections, foleys, physical assessments, and IVs. The nurses here, like I said aren't doing daily physical assessments, and if we're lucky we get a set of vitals. When we were training them the guy didn't even put on his stethoscope to take my BP, I had to remind him how to take a BP. Mentioning words like inspection and palpation appear to be Chinese and locating the auscultation point for the apical pulse was like an easter egg hunt! The wards are terrible compared to our standards- honestly it makes me so grateful to be in the US where infection control is practiced. The wards are rooms with beds in them, Maluti has curtains, the other hospitals (as far as I've seen) do not even have curtains to divide the pts. The hallways reak (sp?) of urine and it is such an upsetting sight to see 3 nurses talking while there are pts who are in pain, have no IV and dehydrated, and in need of basic nursing procedures. The nurses don't have specific pt assignments they all just work together. The culture is very community based which is great but in a healthcare setting there is no accountability for pt care AND you assume that "someone else will take of that" so it doesn't get done. Today for example we were teaching physical assessment on a pt and he threw up. The nurses STOOD THERE! After we said, "we should probably do something about this" 3 nurses meandered into the hallway. The 1st nurse came back to the room and guess what she had...a MOP! No towel for the pt, no clean gown, or new bedding but a mop! It took 15 minutes to clean this man after he threw up! I was so upset and they saw nothing wrong with what was happening. The culture here is very slow paced and relaxed which is great but again, in a healthcare setting it can pose difficulties. The nursing schools here are good, the nurses are taught a lot of information and it is good useful HOWEVER there is NO critical thinking. Their classes include lectures without discussion or questioning (I'm sure some of our professors would love that), and just straight fact memorization. The concept of evaluating a pt based on clinical indicators or abnormal assessment findings is foreign and asking someone to critically think about potential complications/risks R/T a certain illness is almost incomprehendable. Our main goals include strengthening nursing skills and critical thinking, improving nurse leadership and management, and restoring drive/empowerment to the nurses. So far I think we are making some improvements but it is going to take A LOT Of work and motivation.



Now back to everyone:

I have been in the hospitals and clinics doing some nursing work, which has been challenging, eye opening, and I guess slightly rewarding (very rewarding in the clinic setting). I've been meeting some really great people like Victor, the Biology teacher from Zimbabwe, James the blind, Muslim religion teacher who teaches at a Catholic school, and Mamakara the Oprah of Nursing in Lesotho. I have not had an opportunity to go hiking yet but just driving around the country has been amazing. Every angle is picturesque and breath taking.

Wed- I worked at the hospital doing nurse training (that night I ended up getting a lil drunk by myself and then doing a song and dance performance for my wall- it was great).It just gets so boring here all alone at night!

Thursday- I met Victor, and talked with Mary the HIV nurse with LeBoHA who wants me to help her revamp her HIV training program and help with HIV Outreach, Education, and Testing which I LOVE!

Friday- I went to a staff meeting which was SOO SOO Boring but interesting. I'm learning a lot about Public Health and the internal dynamics and corporate bullshit that we need to deal with. We also took a little field trip into South Africa and ate a French Cafe which was just...Savory!

Saturday- I relaxed and read, did some laundry and then went out to dinner. Afterward we went to a Party with the international aid workers and we got wasted and sung karaoke! These people get CRAZY b/c there is nothing to do in this country so everyone just goes bizerk!

Sunday- I met up with the UK kids and hung out with them, It took 4 hours in a Combi ( it should take about 2 hours but...everything is slow in Lesotho)

Monday- I worked at Phelisanong again and saw some really interesting pts including a lil 4 year old boy who had Chronic itching all over his body for 3 years!! It was so bad his skin was raw and bleeding, and he had gashes from scratching. He's coming back next week for a follow up. I really love working in the clinic because it's healthcare in the most basic sense. It's just people helping people- the core of nursing. There are no expected levels of respect such as, "I'm a doctor or nurse I should be treated this way" it's just respect on a humanistic level. Here, it's ok to sit down on the bed with your pt while talking to them and call them by their 1st name, it's ok to eat your trail mix and drink your tea while talking with your pts. There are no defined rules or corporate boundaries which need to be followed it's just caring and healing in the most basic, loving sense of the words. It's fantastic to see people to grateful to receive healthcare. ALSO it's interesting to see things that we don't cover indepth in school (ie mumps or parasitic infections).


I'm doing a lot of meditation and soul searching which is great. I'm discovering a lot about myself and I think I'm getting on the right path to answering some of life's deepest questions. I'm feeling so happy here because I am so content- I'm just at peace here- it's an amazing feeling. It's almost like taking a deep breath, forgetting your troubles, and just laying back- that's how I feel most of the time.


Well, I think that's my update. Not too many exciting things happening, mostly working, so sorry the blog isn't filled with tales of me fighting lions or scaling mountains to save babies! If there is anything you want to know about it just ask! And Don't forget to keep me posted about you & your life!



THABO (Happiness) :)