UBCO Nurses in Zambia: My first week at Lewanika General Hospital

Our group has officially been in Zambia for a little over a week! In this short amount of time I have watched the sunrise almost every morning, screamed and ran from the biggest spiders I've ever seen, bargained at the market, cooked a couple of questionable dinners, and have began to see the cultural differences between Zambia and Canada. I find myself exhausted everyday over the littlest things, but have been reassured by my instructors that this is normal as everything is so new. Who knew just going to the grocery store and the market would tire me out. There's been ups and downs, but without a doubt it's already been a great learning experience and I'm happy I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone to come here.
This week I was on the Women's Medical Ward for one day and the Male Medical Ward for the other two days with Maggie. Before coming to Zambia I spent large amounts of time reading previous student's experiences in Africa, but had no idea what this experience would be like until I was here for myself. The doctors and nurses on the medical wards have been welcoming, kind, and eager to answer our many questions. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in rounds with the doctor and medical officer on Thursday. I was able to see the different diseases, help with the doctor's progress notes, and be involved in their assessments. I think we were all able to learn from one another and most of my learning from this week came from participating in rounds. Some of the diseases that I have not seen in the hospital setting in Canada were HIV, malaria, and meningitis. I was surprised at the lack of resources and how they managed to work around this. I noticed that the floor lacked tourniquets and catheters, but the nurses were able to improvise and use other supplies that were available. For example something as simple as an end of a glove was used for a tourniquet and IV tubing was used as a urine collection bag. One thing that shocked me was the increased risk for needle stick injuries. None of the needles have safety guards and sharps containers aren't automatically at the bedside, making it important to be extra cautious. In Canada, if we were out of any supplies or medications we have the luxury of calling down to a different floor and usually having it brought up right away. Furthermore, we have many safety precautions in place. These are all things I have probably taken for granted at times or haven't entirely thought about until now. Despite these challenges the nurses and doctors have taught me to be creative, appreciative, and to work with what you have. They have so much knowledge to offer and I'm excited to work alongside them the next few weeks.
Thanks for reading! Kristal