My husband and I recently visited Haiti on a mission trip. My area was medical missions, and his in construction and orphanage. The experience has been memorable to say the least. Other words are indescribable, priceless, humbling, enriching, heartbreaking, feeling powerless, impoverishment, destitute, and was like going back in time. May God bless, rescue, heal, and protect those precious Haitian friends that He introduced to our lives. The experience was too much and left impressions on our hearts too big to ever resume "life as usual". Even if I wanted to remove the memories from my mind, they are engrained from that moment we stepped foot onto Haitian soil.
'What do I do with all "THIS"?' is the question I'm still seeking to answer. Sharing the experiences with my nursing students in a way that taps into and encourages the importance of CARING when entering the nursing field keeps resonating in my mind. Can one really "teach" someone to care?? Motivations are varied among nursing students. Income seems to be the predominant reason, in talking with many of them, about reasons for pursuing nursing. I believe this leaves the nursing realm lacking in compassion and empathy for another human being who needs not only competent, safe, nursing care, but just that: compassion and empathy.
Working in Haiti was wonderful for me as I literally "lived" the "dream" of what I see nursing as "being all about". There were no policy manuals, administrators, budgets, prorations, low census, staffing issues, performance evaluations, behavioral standards, co-pays, JCAHO, OSHA, regulations or other legalities to make one concerned with liabilities and question, "will this person, employer, corporation sue me or take my license".... These people needed help. They were sick. We had physicians and nurses who cared for them and gave them medicine to help them to heal. A hand shake, a prayer, a smile, a tear....all were representative of the "legal and binding" stuff that the aforementioned represent. A blessing, an honor, a truly humbling experience is what the medical mission was to me.... Random thoughts: Could I use the online platform to present videos of different experiences over there??? Could I post discussions asking students, "What is nursing to you?" "What are the most important attributes to nursing, in your opinion?"....
Did my prior efforts work? I incorporated my clinical students in preparing the medications for the Haiti Mission Trip. They counted 1,000's of pills, packaged them, labeled them and organized them into 5 day supplies. I took photos of the Haitian people receiving those pill packs that they'd prepared. I hope they "see" the impact and the difference that their giving of their time and work did for the patient who came in having a stroke, the patient whose infant had a respiratory infection, the patient with scabies, the countless patients with worms, the orphan with malaria, the teenager with GERD, and the mother whose infant died of malnutrition and sepsis (the mother received rehydration kits and vitamins, but was sadly beyond what we could do for her infant daughter who later died that day)....there really are no words to describe the experience. I want them to not only be SAFE nurses, but CARING nurses. I believe the online platform serves as a stage where they can interact, revisit, and learn about how to not only "take care of people", but "look into a world unlike their own and work to make that world a brighter and better place".... the trip didn't end in our "changing their world", but I'm hopeful we made life better on that particular day...... 3 people accepted Christ as their Savior, countless others shared "Bonte Beneuo" or God Bless You throughout our stay in the predominantly Voudoo/Catholic country. Even though we didn't speak Creole, the interpreters translated the "same" language of loving another human being and loving the same Lord. Words can't describe the experience where they sang, "This is My Story This is My Song" in Creole, while we sang the song in English...... Nursing should speak the same language of caring about another human being and providing compassionate care.....
Emily
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