I have read blogs and heard stories about the ward nurse's perfect day. These stories usually included snuggling with cute babies, steady work, and good co-workers. I have been working on the ward for 5 months and I can finally join the club of "A perfect day on the ward".
Nothing unusual or spectacular happened, maybe that is why it was so wonderful. I had the same patients on the B ward as the previous 2 days. I knew them and they knew me. No surprises. I knew how to do their complicated dressings already. I knew who got what meds and who needed vitals when. This made for some downtime. Not too much so where I would get bored, but just enough to get some extra hugs and kisses from Christian and Alusin.
Alusin is 2 and he had his cleft lip repaired about 2 weeks ago. Usually, cleft lip babies leave after day 5 but Alusin and his mama were kept to be able to translate for another patient's Mama. Jitta's (the baby I wrote about last week) Mama only speaks a dialect from a village in Sierra Leonne. None of our translators spoke here dialect so Alusin's Mama (her sister) had to stay. Bless her.
Alusin is 2 in every way. He is an expert fit thrower. It is actually quite impressive. When I was little and my brother and I would throw a tantrum my usually mild-mannered dad would get down on the floor and make us lay down on the ground too. He would say " If you are going to throw a fit, you need to do it right. Kick your feet, pound your fists and shake your head.". By that time we would all be laughing hysterically and see how ridiculous our behavior was.
Every day at around 10:30 Alusin would get tired but refuse to take a nap. So I would strap him on my back in a lappa and then continue on with my tasks. He would fall asleep on my back. It was a win-win situation for everyone on the ward. By 10 am the patients would be tired of hearing him scream and his poor mother would be worn out. So while Alusin took his nap on my back we were all happy. There is something euphoric about having a child fall asleep on you. For me, it is intensified when I feel like everything is just right. The music was playing, the baby was sleeping, my patients were happy, I was working with lovely nurses... it was perfect.
Nothing unusual or spectacular happened, maybe that is why it was so wonderful. I had the same patients on the B ward as the previous 2 days. I knew them and they knew me. No surprises. I knew how to do their complicated dressings already. I knew who got what meds and who needed vitals when. This made for some downtime. Not too much so where I would get bored, but just enough to get some extra hugs and kisses from Christian and Alusin.
Alusin is 2 and he had his cleft lip repaired about 2 weeks ago. Usually, cleft lip babies leave after day 5 but Alusin and his mama were kept to be able to translate for another patient's Mama. Jitta's (the baby I wrote about last week) Mama only speaks a dialect from a village in Sierra Leonne. None of our translators spoke here dialect so Alusin's Mama (her sister) had to stay. Bless her.
Alusin is 2 in every way. He is an expert fit thrower. It is actually quite impressive. When I was little and my brother and I would throw a tantrum my usually mild-mannered dad would get down on the floor and make us lay down on the ground too. He would say " If you are going to throw a fit, you need to do it right. Kick your feet, pound your fists and shake your head.". By that time we would all be laughing hysterically and see how ridiculous our behavior was.
Every day at around 10:30 Alusin would get tired but refuse to take a nap. So I would strap him on my back in a lappa and then continue on with my tasks. He would fall asleep on my back. It was a win-win situation for everyone on the ward. By 10 am the patients would be tired of hearing him scream and his poor mother would be worn out. So while Alusin took his nap on my back we were all happy. There is something euphoric about having a child fall asleep on you. For me, it is intensified when I feel like everything is just right. The music was playing, the baby was sleeping, my patients were happy, I was working with lovely nurses... it was perfect.
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