Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The Harvest is Plentiful but the Workers are Few
Today our day was delayed a little by the rain. We have 2 medical teams at our base. Today we all went out together, because it was too muddy to get up into the mountains to see the patients at one clinic. Then we came home early because it turned super sticky humid hot.
Didn't see anything too exciting, but there was the 2 month baby brought in that I saw with a 102.8 temp swaddled in a blanket, with rapid respirations and heartrate. The baby was dehydrated and needed to go to the hospital, and was failing to thrive for his age.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYVOuYZyq2k
I can't say too much more about today, but what I can talk about is the needs. If you have any ideas or would like to help with a solution let me know. The most common drugs we handout are vitamins and Tylenol. There is always a huge need for that. The oral thermometers we have don't work the best, and it would be a good idea to get a bunch of temporal thermometers. But the thing that came to my mind first was when we were talking about a man that probably had prostrate cancer. There was no way to confirm the cancer without proper tests being run like the ones we do in the States. The man had a distended abdomen and was probably full of urine due to the inability to void. I know how uncomfortable it is when you need to void, but can't. I have Shy Bladder Syndrome, and in certain situations can't go no matter how much I need to go. There is also a need for an ultrasound machine. An ultrasound machine has the ability to see the fetus in utero and the measure the amount of the urine in the bladder, so if the bladder was too full the patient could be cathed. On that note, for extra full bladders would require straight cath kits, which the clinic doesn't have. I don't know how feesible it would be to have foley catheter kits in this type of living conditions. The challenge that comes with all of this is actually performing the catherization, there is no privacy in the clinics. All the patients are examined out in the open. If you have any ideas on solutions or how to obtain equipment please let me know. I'm going to do research, and see if I can't contact some of these companies about getting stuff at a discounted rate.
Didn't see anything too exciting, but there was the 2 month baby brought in that I saw with a 102.8 temp swaddled in a blanket, with rapid respirations and heartrate. The baby was dehydrated and needed to go to the hospital, and was failing to thrive for his age.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYVOuYZyq2k
I can't say too much more about today, but what I can talk about is the needs. If you have any ideas or would like to help with a solution let me know. The most common drugs we handout are vitamins and Tylenol. There is always a huge need for that. The oral thermometers we have don't work the best, and it would be a good idea to get a bunch of temporal thermometers. But the thing that came to my mind first was when we were talking about a man that probably had prostrate cancer. There was no way to confirm the cancer without proper tests being run like the ones we do in the States. The man had a distended abdomen and was probably full of urine due to the inability to void. I know how uncomfortable it is when you need to void, but can't. I have Shy Bladder Syndrome, and in certain situations can't go no matter how much I need to go. There is also a need for an ultrasound machine. An ultrasound machine has the ability to see the fetus in utero and the measure the amount of the urine in the bladder, so if the bladder was too full the patient could be cathed. On that note, for extra full bladders would require straight cath kits, which the clinic doesn't have. I don't know how feesible it would be to have foley catheter kits in this type of living conditions. The challenge that comes with all of this is actually performing the catherization, there is no privacy in the clinics. All the patients are examined out in the open. If you have any ideas on solutions or how to obtain equipment please let me know. I'm going to do research, and see if I can't contact some of these companies about getting stuff at a discounted rate.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtQyCWBm55I Tour of Haitian Nurse's Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIB9j-9bSqo The Clinic and Wengi dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIB9j-9bSqo The Clinic and Wengi dancing
Baylor Garland
I have been meaning to give my last thoughts on my first nursing assignment.
Baylor Garland is not like the big 700+ bed hospitals I am used to working in, but they do a lot to cater to the happiness of their employees. Their employees get to take vacation time for a month at a time. Each month they provide a mid month meal on Thursdays and Saturdays for their employees, which I found to be nice to not have to make supper for a night. When I locked myself out of my car in the parking lot, Baylor picked up the tab.
The nurse manager that hired me retired, but was the sweetest boss I had ever known. I didn't think anyone would come close to filling her shoes. My experience is that most bosses aren't that nice. Then when the 2nd one came along she was just as pleasant. She was very nice to me upon my exit!!!!
Overall I found most of the patients to be very pleasant! Maybe its the southern hospitality, but Texas was very nice this summer!
Baylor Garland is not like the big 700+ bed hospitals I am used to working in, but they do a lot to cater to the happiness of their employees. Their employees get to take vacation time for a month at a time. Each month they provide a mid month meal on Thursdays and Saturdays for their employees, which I found to be nice to not have to make supper for a night. When I locked myself out of my car in the parking lot, Baylor picked up the tab.
The nurse manager that hired me retired, but was the sweetest boss I had ever known. I didn't think anyone would come close to filling her shoes. My experience is that most bosses aren't that nice. Then when the 2nd one came along she was just as pleasant. She was very nice to me upon my exit!!!!
Overall I found most of the patients to be very pleasant! Maybe its the southern hospitality, but Texas was very nice this summer!
All the Colors of the Rainbow
Our days begin with breakfast at 6:30am. The classic staple to most of our meals has been avocados and some type of mango juice. I have not seen yet but am told the avocados are gigantic. After breakfast we have 15 minutes of devotion before we hit the road for the day. The Haitian ladies sing one of their songs in Creole, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5B13JNy17c There are several different types of teams staying here at JAX beach, construction, rubble, water sanitation, medical teams, etc. As you've probably already seen on my Facebook pictures I also encountered my first tarantula today.
Today I got a few pictures of some of the vehicles I have encountered here there are all the colors of the rainbow, and usually say something about Jesus.
As I read Isaiah 46 today it was very fitting for the Vodoo conversation I had last night. The commentary I read was saying how God made us and works for our good, not to harm us. A message those imeshed in Vodoo don't understand. Jesus values and loves us all no matter our sin and circumstances.
Another day at the clinic and more interesting things. There was a 3 year old boy, Wengi, that hung around the clinic all day. When we arrived he was there, no mother in site. I saw no mother all day long. I know that there is no way we would have been able to leave my nephew at home alone when he was 3 years old, but Wenji although I'm sure a trouble maker seemed very independent and mature for his age. He was also my parrakeet and I taught him a line of English. After awhile he was mimmicking everything I said. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfUXwUQNwBw We also had a set of baby twins with malaria and 2 other children. We have malaria tests for that are like pregnancy tests. Something American nurses usually don't see!
After clinic today we went to our Haitian nurse's, Sherline, and Mark Elie our Haitian translator's home. Mark Elie's mother died in the earthquake when the wall of their house fell on her. We saw the spot she was killed. He now lives in a large tent with a king sized bed and a twin bed with 8 people. Cooking is all done outside on a grill. Sherline had an actual structure for her one bedroom house, but she sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor of a tent. It's sad to see their living conditions and know they will live like this the rest of their lives, especially when relationships are built with these people. Then I stop to think, "They don't know what they are missing out on. They don't know anything else. The only reason we get sad is because we know what they are missing out on!" As I learned in Africa that they are more rich in family and relationships. Americans are more rich with materialistic possessions, and often times live much lonelier lives. Which really is the more sad way of life? They were so proud to show us their homes and where they lived. They had no shame, why should we feel shame?
Today a few of the Haitian's were wearing American clothing. I asked how they got it. One told me that their American families send them the clothes. The other had Puma shoes like mine, and said that he bought them in the market in Haiti. Who knew they'd sell such items in such a poor country.
At my base there are something like 301 Haitian workers. Samaritan's Purse gives out many different jobs: translators, doctors, nurses, drivers, guards, and cooks. It gives the opportunities to so many who were effected by the earthquake, and I love that this organization is able to do that.
Every day I try to remember all the details of the culture to report them. I forgot to mention that we are living like we are in Mexico. Our toilets flush, but the paper goes in the trash. So I apologize in advance that if I put my TP in your trash upon my return to the U.S.
I'll post the rest of my videos when they finish uploading. Also if you are reading this feel free to leave a comment as a guest below.
Today I got a few pictures of some of the vehicles I have encountered here there are all the colors of the rainbow, and usually say something about Jesus.
As I read Isaiah 46 today it was very fitting for the Vodoo conversation I had last night. The commentary I read was saying how God made us and works for our good, not to harm us. A message those imeshed in Vodoo don't understand. Jesus values and loves us all no matter our sin and circumstances.
Another day at the clinic and more interesting things. There was a 3 year old boy, Wengi, that hung around the clinic all day. When we arrived he was there, no mother in site. I saw no mother all day long. I know that there is no way we would have been able to leave my nephew at home alone when he was 3 years old, but Wenji although I'm sure a trouble maker seemed very independent and mature for his age. He was also my parrakeet and I taught him a line of English. After awhile he was mimmicking everything I said. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfUXwUQNwBw We also had a set of baby twins with malaria and 2 other children. We have malaria tests for that are like pregnancy tests. Something American nurses usually don't see!
After clinic today we went to our Haitian nurse's, Sherline, and Mark Elie our Haitian translator's home. Mark Elie's mother died in the earthquake when the wall of their house fell on her. We saw the spot she was killed. He now lives in a large tent with a king sized bed and a twin bed with 8 people. Cooking is all done outside on a grill. Sherline had an actual structure for her one bedroom house, but she sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor of a tent. It's sad to see their living conditions and know they will live like this the rest of their lives, especially when relationships are built with these people. Then I stop to think, "They don't know what they are missing out on. They don't know anything else. The only reason we get sad is because we know what they are missing out on!" As I learned in Africa that they are more rich in family and relationships. Americans are more rich with materialistic possessions, and often times live much lonelier lives. Which really is the more sad way of life? They were so proud to show us their homes and where they lived. They had no shame, why should we feel shame?
Today a few of the Haitian's were wearing American clothing. I asked how they got it. One told me that their American families send them the clothes. The other had Puma shoes like mine, and said that he bought them in the market in Haiti. Who knew they'd sell such items in such a poor country.
At my base there are something like 301 Haitian workers. Samaritan's Purse gives out many different jobs: translators, doctors, nurses, drivers, guards, and cooks. It gives the opportunities to so many who were effected by the earthquake, and I love that this organization is able to do that.
Every day I try to remember all the details of the culture to report them. I forgot to mention that we are living like we are in Mexico. Our toilets flush, but the paper goes in the trash. So I apologize in advance that if I put my TP in your trash upon my return to the U.S.
I'll post the rest of my videos when they finish uploading. Also if you are reading this feel free to leave a comment as a guest below.
Monday, September 27, 2010
First Day in the Clinic
I am doing a mobile clinic here in Haiti, which means each day we will be going to a different site. Today we conducted the clinic at a church/school. I have two options, which is triage or pharmacy. In triage I take the patient's vital signs and then send them to see the doctor. In pharmacy the nurse distributes the medications the doctor has prescribed and explains how and when to take the meds. Resources are limited with what the doctor is able to do. There are a couple cots in the exam room, but the doctors ask the patients about their chief complaint and prescribe them antibiotics, vitamins, or Tylenol accordingly. Most of the people go home with Tylenol for a fever or pain. Common things seen were high blood pressure, vitamin deficiencies, pain, and worms. Thankfully no TB today, because we are not wearing masks to safe guard us. Many of the medications being distrubuted are meds not commonly used in the US anymore. They are probably meds that were donated, because they are no longer being used. After getting the medications the patient goes to see the pastor, who inturn prays with them or shares the gospel if spirit led.
The things I saw today........
There was a lady pretty much wearing a rag. Her shirt had holes and covering her barely. The people down the hill were living in tents. Making food with dirty hands that don't have the proper hygiene. They were frying food over a flame from firewood underneath the pan, cooking in oil who knows how many times it had been used. It rained twice today, and there were children walking around barefooted with mud squished between their toes because they had no shoes. I saw many children along the roadside with no pants or underwear or only underwear. I've seen dogs and a dead donkey (whole new meaning to "dead donkey")laying in the middle of the road. Donkeys and horses grazing everywhere without being tied up or fenced in. Many of the vehicles here are painted multiple colors of grafitti and in one instance a car had bling on it. Many of these vehicles I see on a daily basis seem to be Godmobiles taking people to church, because they always say something about God on them. 'Papa Nu' is the word for 'Father God' in creole! Finally my shower room is outside, when I look above my shower I see palm trees. These are just a few of the cultural and ways of life that I can think of that are different from America.
Franklin Graham also has a helicopter. The helicopter flies the doctors up into the mountains on Saturdays. It's a 2 hour drive between the 2 Samaritan's Purse bases here in Haiti, but a 14 minute flight. We would have taken it to get here, but it doesn't fly on Sundays. The helicopter flies between bases atleast once a day, and there is a high estimate on how many lives it has saved from not driving. Driving is dangerous here! I still have to somehow manuever a ride on the chopper, and it's more difficult now that I'm on the base where the helicopter is not parked. But when I do I will make an aerial video.
The Haitian doctor tonight explained what Vodoo is. I didn't have a good understanding of it before. I wasn't sure how it was different from Christianity. Vodoo came about because Catholicism was forced upon the Haitians, which they knew nothing about. Many Haitians know that Jesus doesn't accept vodoo, and don't want his name around in the midst of their practices for fear Jesus may bring harm upon them. They don't understand that Jesus is love. The will attribute death to a spirit they follow in Vodoo, because of something they did bad. These people need a lot of prayer to be released from the bondage and fear that these Vodoo spirits have over them!!!
The things I saw today........
There was a lady pretty much wearing a rag. Her shirt had holes and covering her barely. The people down the hill were living in tents. Making food with dirty hands that don't have the proper hygiene. They were frying food over a flame from firewood underneath the pan, cooking in oil who knows how many times it had been used. It rained twice today, and there were children walking around barefooted with mud squished between their toes because they had no shoes. I saw many children along the roadside with no pants or underwear or only underwear. I've seen dogs and a dead donkey (whole new meaning to "dead donkey")laying in the middle of the road. Donkeys and horses grazing everywhere without being tied up or fenced in. Many of the vehicles here are painted multiple colors of grafitti and in one instance a car had bling on it. Many of these vehicles I see on a daily basis seem to be Godmobiles taking people to church, because they always say something about God on them. 'Papa Nu' is the word for 'Father God' in creole! Finally my shower room is outside, when I look above my shower I see palm trees. These are just a few of the cultural and ways of life that I can think of that are different from America.
Franklin Graham also has a helicopter. The helicopter flies the doctors up into the mountains on Saturdays. It's a 2 hour drive between the 2 Samaritan's Purse bases here in Haiti, but a 14 minute flight. We would have taken it to get here, but it doesn't fly on Sundays. The helicopter flies between bases atleast once a day, and there is a high estimate on how many lives it has saved from not driving. Driving is dangerous here! I still have to somehow manuever a ride on the chopper, and it's more difficult now that I'm on the base where the helicopter is not parked. But when I do I will make an aerial video.
The Haitian doctor tonight explained what Vodoo is. I didn't have a good understanding of it before. I wasn't sure how it was different from Christianity. Vodoo came about because Catholicism was forced upon the Haitians, which they knew nothing about. Many Haitians know that Jesus doesn't accept vodoo, and don't want his name around in the midst of their practices for fear Jesus may bring harm upon them. They don't understand that Jesus is love. The will attribute death to a spirit they follow in Vodoo, because of something they did bad. These people need a lot of prayer to be released from the bondage and fear that these Vodoo spirits have over them!!!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
First complete day in Haiti
Samaritan's Purse has 2 bases, one at the Global Outreach campus, and the other at all old resort called JAX beach. Today we took the 2 hour voyage from the GO campus to JAX beach. With every trip I mark my territory, and I did again today! I got motion sick. I have got sick every place I have visited for the last 6 years, Burkina Faso, Hawaii, Detroit just to name a few. I took an anti nausea and it has sedated me for the whole entire day. I guess when I jumped out of the van to puke on the road side the Haitians were running up to me to see stuff until they saw the results! lol!
We arrived to JAX beach at it's quite the upgrade to where we stayed last night. We are now staying in air conditioned tents, with the Alantic Ocean in the backyard. Today since I was already tired I splurged on a gluten diet. Tomorrow I will take my almonds and Bumble Bee bars out with me to eat. My prayer requests right now are for my physical well being. I get motions sickness horribly, and the pot hole roads make it worse. Up until lunch today there were always lots of gluten free things for me to eat. Unlucky for me, they served chicken on the bone today. I love chicken, but I am a very picky finicky meat eater, and I can't do meat on the bone. Finally with my body trying to reorient it to a day shift has posed it's challenges since I woke up at 1am last night and laid there for atleast a couple hours, and then slept all day today due to the sedative I was on. I pray I get a good nights sleep tonight.
As I've gone through the day I've remembered the little things I've learned since I've been here that I want to mention, so that I don't forget the details of this trip later. Cite Du Soleil is a place where there is a clinic, and it's the 3rd most dangerous city in the world. We also drove by a cruise ship port today. We were told that cruise ships drop people off and tell them that it's a different island than it really is. Maybe I mentioned this before, but they said that since there are no road laws buses loads of people will be going down the highway 60mph going through a city holding down the horn for other cars and people to move out of the way and don't give any way themselves. 2 buses before have collided with each other at these speeds and dead bodies flew everywhere, because neither bus would give way to the other. We have been told that if we come upon an accident to flee the scene, especially if we are involved, because riots can start. In America we are taught this is wrong, but here it's for our safety. Also Haiti is expected to have another earthquake in the next 90 days with a magnitude of 5.1 or above. There is an excellent safety and security team here that have a good handle on what is going on around us.
Overall Haiti is a very beautiful country with great potential for tourism. Unfortunately it's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and all systems here have collapsed. My question is where would anyone begin to straighten out the problems when every single system is corrupt in this country?
I'll post the link to the tour of the compound later.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Lessons to Be Learned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqigNTNRsw
Today I arrived in Haiti at 1:40pm. I was the first to get on the plane, and first to go through the entrance gate for my stamp! I got motion sickness on the runway, which is my staple reaction to every place that I visit. At the airport I was bombarded with a Haitian wanting to carry my bags for me. I was like, “No, no it's okay!” He kept walking with us to the Samaritan's Purse van so I thought he was with SP, until he asked for money for helping him. There was no way I was going to whip out my money pouch, with all of my cash to get him money. The woman that picked me up had some dollars on her. Lesson #1 Never let a stranger carry your bags.
On the drive over we went by the tents, and a rough rough road. I'll uploaded a clip of the road trip above. People are mad drivers around here, since there are no road laws and no traffic tickets. I was oriented to the compound, only to find out that I will be going over to the JAX resort compound tomorrow. Currently there is an air conditioned tent with a tv, food, and internet service of which I am able to do this. There is a mountain on the backside I'd be able to hike up if I were to stay.
Then we got our orientation tonight! I knew it was unsafe here, but I didn't realize how unsafe until the talk. Lesson #2 Be much more scared, because it's more dangerous than previously thought! Corruption is so corrupt that there are things that I have never even thought of! For instance, the security officer was saying a SP woman hit a motorcycle driver who pulled out in front of her. The Haitians started slashing the tires, and it was a situation in which she had to escape. He said it's next to impossible to get a driver's license here. The government is corrupt. There is kidnapping for randsoms. A simple situation such as a boy playing with a ball can turn into an escalated situation. But no worries, they take measures for top security. There's informants out in the community with the organization that report back where anything wrong is happening, so they can alert the volunteers to get out if something dangerous is going on nearby. There are also Haitian guards with rifles at the entrance of the compound and stand outside our tent at night.
The alarm bell will be going off at 5:30am, and I am super tired, so now is the time to get my body on that schedule and go to bed now.
Today I arrived in Haiti at 1:40pm. I was the first to get on the plane, and first to go through the entrance gate for my stamp! I got motion sickness on the runway, which is my staple reaction to every place that I visit. At the airport I was bombarded with a Haitian wanting to carry my bags for me. I was like, “No, no it's okay!” He kept walking with us to the Samaritan's Purse van so I thought he was with SP, until he asked for money for helping him. There was no way I was going to whip out my money pouch, with all of my cash to get him money. The woman that picked me up had some dollars on her. Lesson #1 Never let a stranger carry your bags.
On the drive over we went by the tents, and a rough rough road. I'll uploaded a clip of the road trip above. People are mad drivers around here, since there are no road laws and no traffic tickets. I was oriented to the compound, only to find out that I will be going over to the JAX resort compound tomorrow. Currently there is an air conditioned tent with a tv, food, and internet service of which I am able to do this. There is a mountain on the backside I'd be able to hike up if I were to stay.
Then we got our orientation tonight! I knew it was unsafe here, but I didn't realize how unsafe until the talk. Lesson #2 Be much more scared, because it's more dangerous than previously thought! Corruption is so corrupt that there are things that I have never even thought of! For instance, the security officer was saying a SP woman hit a motorcycle driver who pulled out in front of her. The Haitians started slashing the tires, and it was a situation in which she had to escape. He said it's next to impossible to get a driver's license here. The government is corrupt. There is kidnapping for randsoms. A simple situation such as a boy playing with a ball can turn into an escalated situation. But no worries, they take measures for top security. There's informants out in the community with the organization that report back where anything wrong is happening, so they can alert the volunteers to get out if something dangerous is going on nearby. There are also Haitian guards with rifles at the entrance of the compound and stand outside our tent at night.
The alarm bell will be going off at 5:30am, and I am super tired, so now is the time to get my body on that schedule and go to bed now.
A Night in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
I arrived at DFW yesterday, and waited in no lines. I did the self check, and there was no one waiting in the x-ray line. It was straight to the front each time! Very nice! I've learned how to pack light; therefore, I don't have to mess with checking a bag. I arrived in PR last night after a 4 hour flight from DFW, which covered Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, the Bahama, Caicos and Turk Islands. I was very happy that I could still get my cellphone coverage here. My phone never changed times for time zones, so I thought there wasn't going to be a satellite connection. I arrived at my hotel, Coral By The Sea, a mile from the airport. For $80/night my hotel was pretty primitive, but I know that God is gradually weaning me from the American lifestyle so there's not so much of a culture shock in Haiti. I was hoping for one last hot shower, but that was cold too! After being awake for 28 hours, and not eating all day I was hungry and tired. I showed up in the formal restaurant in my sweats and ate a tasty chicken breasts with creole sauce and seasoned rice. Then this morning an omlette with french fries. So far so good on my gluten free diet! Sometimes the options are slim pickings, but the slim pickings were delicious this time.
Everyone at the airport, the taxi driver, hotel attendant, and the waitresses all spoke English. I guess I look American so they all started off by speaking English with me. I took 4 years of French in high school. The Spanish that I do know is from my 6 week exploratory class in the 8th grade and the majority of my foreign speaking patients. I was a little worried about the communication, then today my taxi driver knew very little English. He was asking me questions in Spanish and I knew what he was saying! I try to get by with what little Spanish I do know with my Spanish speaking patients who know little English. When they don't know what I'm saying in English I sometimes use the french word, and sometimes they understand what I am saying. So when the taxi cab driver was speaking this morning I recognized some of his words because they were similar to french. Now when I stop to think about it, I should have never worried to begin with. I have plenty of experience with Spanish speakers and I always get by, and achieve what needs to be done.
The night shift messes with my body for a day or two after coming off of it, and reorienting it into a regular schedule gets tricky. Last night I didn't have my air conditioner programmed the right way so my room was getting humid and the smoke alarm was beeping like the battery was going low. After 3 or 4 hours of sleep I woke up and had a tough time falling back to sleep, despite being awake for over a day before. My body is very rebellious that way, and no matter how tired I am I usually pop a Benadryl to keep me asleep for a good 8 hours. I thought I could get by not doing it last night. I was wrong! It takes about 12 hours for the Benadryl to wear off, so I usually wake up with a Benadryl hangover, but this week I bought the pills instead of capsules and split it in half. I slept through the day, and woke up without a hangover.
So I set my alarm clock to wake me up 3 hours before leaving for my flight. My layover by the way was 15 hours in Puerto Rico. I had a choice between Miami, Alanta, or Puerto Rico as my layovers. The decision was tough. So this morning I got up and walked to the sea, which was 2 blocks from my hotel. I stopped to get my usual Starbucks iced coffee, which usually comes to $1.83 in Dallas or $2.17 in the highly taxed Chicago. Today the same coffee was $3.91!!!!!! $3.91?!?! I know they were thinking “(in my foreign voice)Stupid Americans! They want their coffee! We'll overcharge them!” They're right! I'll do anything to have my coffee! Substance abuse at it's best!
Well once again my lines were very short at the airport this morning. I got here a couple hours early, and was checked and x-rayed in 20 minutes. A guy had 2 cats and I carried one through for him. I told him I hated cats from growing up on the farm, and the infestation we experienced! Lol! Our last cat that I had any emotional attachment to, died about 3 years ago. Never again though! So now I'm waiting for my flight to Port Au Prince, and am going to monkey around with my new camcorder to figure out how to upload my videos for all to see! Until next time, God Bless!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA6cnNzRUk0 San Juan Beach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMu7ljLXLfQ The Hotel
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
All my ExCoworkers Live in Texas!
My going away tribute to all of my fellow coworkers at Baylor Garland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sseWDlqg4Gk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sseWDlqg4Gk
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Travel Nurse Tips
If you need to renew your CPR card the local agencies such as the Red Cross charge $90, instead check with the hospital your current assignment is at for renewal classes. It only cost me $25 to renew.
Illinois has no nursing board only a professional regulation building. If you need to get them to verify your license to another state then send them the verification in the mail by certified mail which requires a signature. With the verification send another envelope inwhich they must send it to the next place by certified mail. Also call them, get a name, and threaten to stalk them until it gets sent out! Illinois told me that once they receive the verification it takes10-14 days to just enter it into the computer. Normally the entire process can take 4-6 weeks. They sent my verification out 2 days after receiving it in the mail. Talk about pronto!
California also has a reputation for losing stuff. My plan is to send it certified, and all stapled together so nothing can be lost. I'll let you know how it works out. They are notorious for losing checks and applications! I have also been told that they will send fingerprints back if they are smudged. Make sure the fingerprint card you send back is not smudged or bent!!!! If you work for Cross Country Trav Corp, then some of the recruiters can send you the California fingerprinting cards, because it can take forever if you ask Cali to send you one.
Finally there is a website called Highway Hypodermics that shows a comparison of all the travel nursing companies and which benefits they offer. It allows you to see which companies offer the most benefits to the least. Here's the link to the page: http://www.highwayhypodermics.com/travel_nursing_companies.htm
Haiti Update
So finally Samaritan's Purse got back to me a week ago Friday, and they are only willing to let me go for 2 weeks. They said that the 2 week trips have been very difficult on the nurses due to the living conditions and the heat. They told me that if I wanted to go back in the future for longer then they would reevaluate at that time.
So far everything is going well with the planning. I found a super cheap plane ticket on a website called CheapOAir.com. The catch was a 15 hour overlay. I chose where I wanted my overlay to be, Miami or Puerto Rico? Tough decision, I chose Puerto Rico, and will spend the night in a hotel there a mile from the airport and sight see in my extra time.
My car prayer was answered. I will be keeping my car in the garage of one of my coworkers with all of my belongings. My final detail to work out is how I will be getting to the airport. I could take the shuttle, but it'll be something like $80 roundtrip. I don't think that is cost effective or good steward of my money if there is a better way. I have yet to check the train system from my friend's house, but from my apartment it would take 2 1/2 hours.
Finally if you are a traveler overseas and want to save money, you can take the antibiotic Doxycycline for malaria. It's cheaper, you'll have to take it everyday of the trip and a month afterwards, but a 60 count can be purchased for around $10 with insurance versus the $50 for Larium. I used to take Doxy for acne and it made me nauseous on an empty stomach so take it on a full stomach regardless of what the indications say on the bottle. I puked up my food when I took it before my meal. My doctor wanted to give me a different drug than Larium, because he said that no one uses Larium anymore, but the other drug is even more expensive. I also had to get the Typhoid vaccine again. That vaccine is good for up to 5 years, which it's been 6 years since I last had it. Things to keep in mind if you need overseas vaccinations. With it being rainy hurricane season, the Typhoid vacc was a must!
Thanks for all of the prayers, and I hope to be able to update this regularly on my trip. I bought a small little compact video cam for the trip yesterday, so I hope to get lots of footage.
So far everything is going well with the planning. I found a super cheap plane ticket on a website called CheapOAir.com. The catch was a 15 hour overlay. I chose where I wanted my overlay to be, Miami or Puerto Rico? Tough decision, I chose Puerto Rico, and will spend the night in a hotel there a mile from the airport and sight see in my extra time.
My car prayer was answered. I will be keeping my car in the garage of one of my coworkers with all of my belongings. My final detail to work out is how I will be getting to the airport. I could take the shuttle, but it'll be something like $80 roundtrip. I don't think that is cost effective or good steward of my money if there is a better way. I have yet to check the train system from my friend's house, but from my apartment it would take 2 1/2 hours.
Finally if you are a traveler overseas and want to save money, you can take the antibiotic Doxycycline for malaria. It's cheaper, you'll have to take it everyday of the trip and a month afterwards, but a 60 count can be purchased for around $10 with insurance versus the $50 for Larium. I used to take Doxy for acne and it made me nauseous on an empty stomach so take it on a full stomach regardless of what the indications say on the bottle. I puked up my food when I took it before my meal. My doctor wanted to give me a different drug than Larium, because he said that no one uses Larium anymore, but the other drug is even more expensive. I also had to get the Typhoid vaccine again. That vaccine is good for up to 5 years, which it's been 6 years since I last had it. Things to keep in mind if you need overseas vaccinations. With it being rainy hurricane season, the Typhoid vacc was a must!
Thanks for all of the prayers, and I hope to be able to update this regularly on my trip. I bought a small little compact video cam for the trip yesterday, so I hope to get lots of footage.
Vista Del Lago
It's been awhile since I've updated my nursing blog, but back on June 7th I was moved into my new apartment. My first travel apartment has been equipped with a tennis, basketball, raquetball, and sand volleyball courts along with a pool and fitness center. The apartment is complete with a garage, walk in closet, food pantry, washer/dryer room, fireplace, and balcony. Someday I'll post the video of my place. It's right on White Rock Lake and in a gated community. Ammenities goes as far as to provide the carwash vacuum cleaner in the parking lot and grills on the patio. The courtyard is very beautiful, but the downfalls include newborn pidgeons and pidgeon poop covering my balcony and my garage door quit working for the 4th time this week. When I originally moved in there was a business center complete with computers, and a fax/copy/scanner machine that worked. Now it's burdensome to have the staff always faxing my paperwork, because that machine no longer works.
Here's Vista Del Lago's website:
http://vistadellagoapthomes.com
Here's Vista Del Lago's website:
http://vistadellagoapthomes.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
