Today I started my second official workweek. (If I didn't mention it before, the workweek starts on Sunday here.) This week I will begin my "lecture series." It sounds much fancier that it is. That being said I have been working on this curriculum for a little over a month. The process of developing, implementing, and evaluating the curriculum will hopefully eventually become the basis for my MPH thesis. My first lesson is on vital signs (how to take them, when to take them, why take them?) It seems basic, but basics are necessary. I have been in the ICU and hospital for 4 full days. I have seen quite a bit; some parts okay, other, not so much. I am trying really hard to not swoop in and fix everything. ICU nurses tend to be pretty Type A--controllers. Of all the ICU nurses I know, I am among the more laid-back variety. However, I am who I am, and watching patients be under unnecessary risk is nearly impossible for me.
That said, I have had some wonderful teaching moments the last couple of days, which I have truly appreciated. I am starting to figure out what some of the barriers to learning and teaching are here. I am sure I'll learn more on Thursday when I actually try to teach.
Tomorrow, I will go into the hospital for the afternoon. Hopefully, I'll get there before the patient comes back from the operating room. I learn a great deal about colleague relations and communication styles during that relative high stress time.
In the morning, I am going to the immigration office to apply for residency. It's a requirement for anyone here longer than 10 days. I tried to go last week, but the office was apparently in the process of moving to another location. There were probably a hundred people or so milling around trying to get all their signatures and blood work when the lights went out & registration stopped. It was very confusing for this white girl. The Samaritian's Purse lawyer said, "Ok, it's not open anymore, maybe next week." I love it. We'll just keep trying.
A great Kurdish tradition is picnicking. Yesterday, Nawzad and Omar (2 Samaritian's Purse staffers) took the other 4 non-Kurds (John, Brian, Bethany & I) to Ahmed Awa for a picnic. Ahmed Awa is in the East of country. It was amazing. We were driving through the desert for a couple of hours until we entered this lush oasis. The stream was rushing past us as we ate. After lunch we went for a quick hike up to the main waterfall. It was beautiful! It reminded me of Yosemite; except that at Yosemite you can feel the falls coming, because the air gets so thick with moisture. Here they just came out of no where. The falls themsleves came from within the mountain. I had been told it was beautiful, but it really was surprising how stunning it all was.
I'd love to show you pictures as evidence but I am having trouble loading pictures onto this post. Any suggestions? I'll take them. By the way, it's now Tuesday, and I am not sure if the lecture will happen this weekend. Each day this week I have heard a different reason why. Today it was, "We must talk to the Head Nurse of the hospital and get an order to have conference." This was news to me. No one told me I had to get outside permission to teach. Oh the joys of finding your way through red tape!
Hope your week is going well! God bless!
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