February 12, another cold, snowy day!

Greetings! I just worked 3 12.5 hour night shifts. I was worried about them dragging on forever, but they actually went by decently quickly. A very interesting environment, as you have a room filled with 24 people in various stages of sleep or not. As you walk around, the sounds of sleep are apparent, some people are just breathing in a very regular breathing pattern, while others are snoring, from quiet, gentle snoring, to loud snoring. Some patients are not asleep at all, as they may be reading, restless, and/or disturbing others. We as nurses work in a very dark environment, trying to keep everyone calm and quiet, and that can be a challenge. It is impressive to me to see some patients sleep through anything/everything that is going on around them. At 6am, the place starts coming to life again, as vital signs are started and medication passed out. By 730am, the lights are on and we start preparing for handover, where we go from bed to bed and do report.

I work with many nurses from Africa. Last night one of them was shopping for a 4-wheel drive vehicle to take to Malawi. He would have it shipped to a port, then drive it to his country, about 8 hours away. I offered to help him make the drive. Another nurse was planning her trip to her home in Japan. With 7 weeks of vacation a year, nurses are able to do some regular commuting home. One nurse is from the Philipines, and her husband and two young sons live there.

I have tonight off, then do another night shift tomorrow night. I am not minding it at all. There is one patient who I have been talking to who is very interesting. He has been a pub owner in Kent, England, and has some interesting stories to share. Last night I took in my ipod so that he could listen to the Robert Plantt and Allison Kraus cd, Raising Sand, that won 6 Grammys last week. Thank you, Mike, for loaning me your cd so that I could put it on my ipod!

I have attached pictures of the "sluice" machine that I described earlier. It always chuckles me when I use it. You use your foot to open it, slide in the bedpans/urinals, then start it. It sounds somewhat like a dishwasher, and then, there you go, clean items!!

I hope this finds everyone well. I have been here a month and a half, and despite the fact that I am marveling at what I am doing, I always have a moment of the day where I long for Portland and everyone who goes along with it!! Cheers to all!!!