Occupational Health Nurse Practitioner - August 2002 I have now been working in this very busy clinic for 4000 employees of the insurance company for several months. One of my duties is to give routine vaccinations to employees when they request them. During an unusually slow afternoon, I checked my vaccine stock to see if… Continue reading Why am I so weak?
Category: General Nursing
Will God Provide?
October 2001 Dr. T., my manager, called me into his office. "Pam, I'm afraid I have some bad news for all of us. The parent hospital has decided to close this campus in the next few months because they are losing so much money here. Next month, they will decrease us to twenty hours per… Continue reading Will God Provide?
A Mother of None or Many?
May 2001 After examining me, my gynecologist gently said, "Pam, I'm afraid you need to have a hysterectomy. I don't want to let you keep bleeding like this and ending up with an emergency situation." I choked back the tears and replied, "Is there any way I could be on a different floor so I… Continue reading A Mother of None or Many?
Becoming a Patient
July 1996 My most difficult semester of graduate school is history. The pathophysiology class, taught by a physician from Russia with a heavy accent, was challenging to understand. She gave us a great review of physiology and took us much deeper into what goes wrong in the body when disease occurs. The second course was… Continue reading Becoming a Patient
Transcultural Nursing Course – Dominican Republic – Part 4
January 1995 Over the next few days, Dr. Elaine assigned me to work in the Mennonite clinic which was hosting us in comfortable simple motel-like rooms on their campus. I watched Dr. Nancy examine patients all day long in much the same fashion as USA physicians. She speaks some English and many of the medical… Continue reading Transcultural Nursing Course – Dominican Republic – Part 4
Transcultural Nursing Course – Dominican Republic – Part 3
January 3, 1995 With our trip half over, we returned today to the city hospital to work as a group so Tammy could translate for us. We made rounds in the pediatric ward and watched a skilled nurse easily start several IV's in babies, unlike yesterday. She wore a cap with a blue velvet band,… Continue reading Transcultural Nursing Course – Dominican Republic – Part 3
Transcultural Nursing Course in Dominican Republic – Part 2 – ICU
January 1995 - San Juan, Dominican Republic After awakening, I began reading my English-Spanish Bible in my Pan Dia village home, when Maria, a ten-year-old girl came in and shyly started reading over my shoulder. I gave her a Spanish gospel tract to read, and she was thrilled. Before we said goodbye, the cute children… Continue reading Transcultural Nursing Course in Dominican Republic – Part 2 – ICU
The Grand Canyon – From the Top – Part 2
June 2010 Ever since I rafted through the Grand Canyon in 1993, I have wanted to see it again from the rim and the comfort of a hotel with hot showers, flush toilets, and a real bed. (See the previous post.) I was invited to visit dear friends who live in Utah near Bryce and… Continue reading The Grand Canyon – From the Top – Part 2
The Grand Canyon – from the Bottom – Part I
May 1993 A couple of years ago when I went white water rafting with some friends in the mountains of the state of Washington, I fell overboard and nearly drowned when I was caught in a whirlpool. Even though I am an excellent swimmer and was a lifeguard when I was in high school, I… Continue reading The Grand Canyon – from the Bottom – Part I
God’s Mercy in Tragedy
February 1991 When I returned from my survey trip to New England, my Dad called me to say that Mom had had a small stroke (TIA-transient ischemic attack). Her doctor started her on Persantine, baby aspirin, and digoxin medications. She began crying on the phone when I talked with her because she was terrified of… Continue reading God’s Mercy in Tragedy