Hello Everyone, Ferris here. I am a new staff member at Kasana Children’s Center working as a nurse in the clinic. I started on the ninth and it is the 26th as a write this. Me, fresh out of nursing school in western South Dakota, filling the role of a primary provider in the realm of tropical medicine has been somewhat of a baptism by fire. It is very fast paced here around break time(10:30 am) when we often have a tidal wave of children show up to the door with different needs. They have everything including: wounds that need to be dressed, malaria, and jiggers (a small bug that makes its way into people’s feet that you have to dig out).
Sometimes they just come to hear the new guy try to speak Luganda. That has also been a learning curve for me. Not all the children speak English. I can usually find someone who makes a very good translator.
I am very thankful for the wonderful and welcoming healthcare team I have been able to work with. They have helped me immensely in adjusting , pointing me in the right direction while still allowing me much independence. We really seem to feed off of each other’s gifts and expertise as well. It has been an environment open to necessary changes. In the short time I have been here we have set up a triage station in the waiting room to sort out patient needs and speed up the process of getting children in and out and back to class faster. This has helped immensely, but we are still trying to sort out details. Another prospect we are working with is having clinic staff members on-site at the secondary school during break time to triage. It is about a 15 minute walk from the secondary school to the clinic and many of the students have basic first aid needs that could be treated on-site saving time for everyone. Today was our first day trying it out. We will see how tomorrow goes. Pray that we will be able to be wise in our decision making and management. Well, it is my bed time here. Sula bulunji! Good night!
By Ferris Bauman, Kasana Children’s Centre Nurse