St. George's Hospital
Shadowing the nurses of Grenada...
Perhaps my favorite part of my trip to Grenada was the experience of shadowing nurses at the St. George's Hospital. This was another early day. We left the resort at approximately 6:30 a.m. so that we could be present for change of shift at 7 a.m. Upon arriving, I was assigned to work in the pediatric unit for the day.
I was shocked by some of the huge differences I noticed between the hospital setting in Grenada versus the United States. In my unit, there were no separate patient rooms. It was one large room full of approximately 30 cribs. The pediatric unit was only for children up to age 6, after that they were treated with the adults. There was no air conditioning in the hospital, but there were many open windows that allowed the sea breeze to circulate air through the ward. Perhaps the most staggering difference was the nurse to patient ratio. My nurse had fifteen patients that she had to monitor. For reference, in the United States you rarely see a nurse handling more than four patients.
The children...
I spent the majority of my day providing direct patient care for the children on the unit. I assisted in providing nebulizer treatments, feeding, and playing. One child in particular took a liking to me and followed me around the ward for almost the entire day. He held my hand and simply watched what I was doing, and whenever he could he would convince me to play with him with his favorite toy.
Another child that I took a great interest in was Sean. Sean had a rare genetic disorder that causes agenesis of the arms, intellectual disability, severe club foot, and numerous facial abnormalities. He has lived in the hospital for his entire life because the care he requires is so extensive, and his birth mother is not able to provide for him. My classmates and I were so moved by Sean's bubbly demeanor and need for care that we decided to start a project to "adopt" him. We plan on sending supplies to Sean in Grenada to help as much as possible with his care.
