Two words for today: Impressive and Rewarding
The Nuchtern/Belon team helped 25 kids today. The care devoted to each and every child (and moms and dads) and the efficiency of the operation are truly impressive. As one surgeon said, “It is all about the kids”. The team here left their lives back home to give something back, lending their amazing skills to help so many others. They often are working with limited or different or less advanced instruments or technology. Many of the team are filling roles that are different from their normal jobs, like a PACU nurse who normally is a flight nurse, a nurse anesthetist working in recovery, a cardiac nurse executive working as a circulating nurse or a scrub nurse who normally works in orthopedics. These folks are true professionals pitching in with their skills wherever they are needed.
Working in a small hospital relative to their normal hospitals fosters expediency and collaboration. The four ORs are arranged in a circle and the surgeons often get input from each other and sometimes collaborate on parts of cases. Like everyone else they are highly skilled and are here on their own accord doing what they do best.
The anesthesia staff are experts in taking care of kids, from pre-op through surgery and post-op. They just know their stuff and quiet confidence surely applies. They are here to focus on their patients and their craft.
The nurses and scrub techs are incredible in all they do, whether it be scrubbing in, circulating or serving in the PACU. The knowledge, attention to detail and care they put into every case is amazing. They are highly experienced and able to improvise when needed, which is quite often.
A word about the interpreters. The team could not do this without them. Some people on the team are quite proficient in Spanish, but the interpreters help smooth communications and so much more. They are able to really connect with the families, providing comfort, understanding and reassurance. They listen closely and can tell when there is a communication gap, jumping in to close it and make sure everyone understands. Some are from the American team and some are Guatemalan and they all are truly warm and wonderful people.
At the end of the day, it is about families. The families face great hardships in their daily lives and to be able to take some of that away through delivery of needed care is so rewarding. In one case, three children, two brothers and their sister, all needed surgery. Sadly, the parents had passed away and the grandmother was caring for all. To see them all safely and successfully go through surgery and recovery, means so much to the family and the mission team. In another case, there was another family of three. The dad was seeing each one through as the mother gave birth in another hospital. There are so many stories of hardship and hope. Every case is a kid, every little one is a little life. And they’re all special.
On to Day 4.
Mike Miniati
Team Blogger
