nursing : indian style

on sabbatical...reflections on the year thus far part two

there have been numerous occasions over the past five months where my nursing efforts have been somewhat unconventional. here is one.

living in a rural area of a country whose medical resources leave much to be desired, it was never going to be the same as my cosy little graduate year at flinders medical centre.

out of nowhere would come nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, fainting, fevers, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, lethargy. sometimes the symptoms would last for 24 hours. some a few days. there were times when the viruses were spreading so fast, the term 'dropping like flies' demonstrated it's true meaning.

the worst of this scenario is when one, or both, of our little twins - shavani and saloni - would catch something. the now 15-month-old girls were severely malnourished when they first arrived on the farm a year ago. they have spent their first year fighting numerous infections and setbacks but are now well on their way to being thriving, walking, talking little toddlers.

i remember one evening finding out that shavani, the older twin, had been sick for most of the afternoon. she had a fever above 39* and had been brought into one of the only bedrooms on the farm that have air conditioning, and failing electricity, at least have the capacity to run the fans and lights.

as 'the nurse' it was my job to share my bed with shavani, constantly feeding her, changing her nappies, checking her temperature, giving her medications and nebulisers, and trying to get her some sleep. twice that night i ended up having to fully shower her off and change our bed sheets, post-vomit.

this went on for a couple of nights, with the older girls taking over her care during the days when more help was readily available. but night shift was just me and my baby-patient. i really didn't sleep much during those nights, but the desperation to make sure my baby was breathing, hydrated and keeping her temperatures below 40* ruled sleep out as one of life's common necessities.

needless to say, i have the utmost admiration for mothers and their newborns, and likewise, parents who have literally been 'up all night' with their own sick offspring.

xx