Each day that evaporates into the subsaharan African heat gives me a greater appreciation to be here. (The heat intensity is increasing, and subsequently the amount of sweat rolling off my face). Each day I continue to learn more about myself and about those around me, and each day my connection and love for this beautiful country and its people grows.
Two full weeks of my preceptorship on the Nkurah Pediatric Ward have passed. Two weeks have gone since we donned our white dresses once again to embark on the final placement of this time here in Ghana. Only 3 weeks of being a student remain. I am in disbelief. Where is the time going?! And in that time, what is actually happening? Well, let me tell you a little bit about it.
First off, I will just put my preceptor Rockson on a pedestal. Nah, actually I’ll just leave him there. Also, I unintentionally called him Rockstar in the first few days of meeting him, and now I just go with it. 😃 It has been such an incredible answer to prayer to have a preceptor who challenges your brain into places you never knew it could go, who is indescribably passionate about pediatric nursing and daily advocates for the patients and their families, who loves teaching, and who just enjoys life to the fullest. Having a preceptor like this, together with a health care team who displays similar passions and patients who literally just steal your heart in half a second (and not to forget the incredible peers I am privileged to share the pediatric experience with), has created in me a fertile soil bed conducive to growing things I did not expect.
I never dreamed I would wake up at 5:00 am and anticipate going to work. I never dreamed that kids requiring hospitalization would weasel their way so deeply into my heart. I didn’t expect that though the situation looks impossible, there is always a triumph. Where there is great emotion, there is great reward. I never once considered ever working as a nurse in pediatrics. And though I still may not fully know my path, I am amazed at how it feels to love what I do.
And that’s a little description of the newest sprout of passion in my life.
Continue to expect the unexpected.
Lena's Footprints in Ghana 