Sunday, 12 October 2014

I really can't believe it's already been three months...WOW! :)

Things are going well in the NICU!  I am so grateful that the staff has welcomed me so warmly and I feel like I am finally familiar with the routine and speaking Kreyol well enough that I generally understand what is going on and no longer have to ask for every single thing to be repeated...ha.  Part of the reason I wanted to stay here for a year is that I remembered that when I was leaving France after four months, I was just starting to speak and understand well...hopefully once I can speak well here, I will have the opportunity to work more effectively.  I love the NICU staff and have so much respect for them--they are used to working with much heavier patient loads and with many fewer resources than we do in the states.  Although I was brought here to train the nurses, some of their clinical skills (starting IVs, for example) are much better than mine because they are used to doing everything alone, all the time.  It's incredibly difficult to think about the big picture when you have eight babies (and eight mothers) to care for.

My first project is hypothermia, which seems like the epitome of irony considering how hot is it here...ha.  Nonetheless, it seems like our premature babies are always cold, which is detrimental for their growth.  We have fewer incubators and don't always have extra linens, so I am hoping that we can change some of our practices and increase our parent education to keep our temperatures more stable.  More to follow!