March 25, 2011 Beste/Nelson Group

As we leave today there are so many wonderful memories and lessons that we carry with us. We were able to treat @ 1000 people all together in the barrio clinics and the Solid Rock Clinic. The Dominicans are such giving, compassionate and loving people. They have reinforced that it truly takes so little to make one happy and content with your life and your family. That it is family and fellowship that matters..not materialistic items.

Items to bring...
(clinic needs ear wax removal kits)
Lap top with extra speakers
bring clothes to DONATE
school supplies
shoes to donate; especially childrens
dental supplies
EXTRA PENS
stethescope
otoscope with covers
tongue depressors
clip boards
deflated sports balls with pump
balloons, childs entertainment of any kind
any prescription medicine you dont USE
BRING anything that you don't even know that the clinic could use....any supplies for the guesthouse..clinic..barrios...
any medical supplies or equipment you can get your hands on!

Your GOAL should be to BRING everything and LEAVE everything...your understanding of NEED will CHANGE!
The Room 10 Girls
Sara, Melissa, Susan, and Kim

Medicines

Medicines we Need!

The pharmacy has been cleaned out and the medicines that we are in dire need of are:
1. Infants and children's chewable vitamins
2. Antifungal creams
3. Antiviral (acyclovir)
4. Antihypertensives (we have no calcium channel blockers, and also need ACE-I, ARBs, beta-blockers, have plenty of HCTZ and furosemide)
5. Vaginal cadida treatment
6. Fluoroquinolones
7. Calamine lotion

Other medications that we could use but are not in dire need of are:
1. Adult vitamins
2. Children and infant's tylenol and ibuprofen

We have a ton of:
1. Diphenhydramine
2. Tums
3. H2RAs
When bringing medications, please remember to keep it simple! We have a lot of random (and very expensive medicines) that may not get used because there is no a great need for them. 

This week we have seen TONS of tinea, and lots of scabies, chicken pox and yeast infections.

Thanks so much for the donations!

Lindsey Elmore, PharmD

It's not goodbye...

As we finished up our last days at the clinics, a bittersweet moment approaches as we think about heading back to the United States.  Many of us have gotten immersed in the spanish language and are finding ourselves thinking, talking and even dreaming in the language.  Looking back on our time spent with children in the schools and many families in the clinics, I have realized just how much a smile, a hug, and quality time spent with people can mean.  So often, we want to see measurable results to feel like we have accomplished something, especially in the nursing field.  However, some of the best memories I have made from this trip have been the ones where I have played with smiling kids and seeing the contentment families have just being, often times without television, internet, and the luxury of running water. 

Today we went to Barahona, near the Haitian border and were greated with a long, long line of people waiting to be seen.  We saw around 375 people today and it broke my heart today to see such a long line left when we had to leave.  The gratitude here is unbelievable and very rewarding to all of us.  We ended the night with a fiesta at the private school where some of our team members have sponsored a student.  It was neat to see the relationship between the students and sponsors and how much it meant to them.

I am truly in awe by how God brings us all from different parts of the country, with different backgrounds and knowledge to serve together in something where each person is necessary for the bigger result to occur.  I am so thankful for this opportunity and for all the memories :)

From the Nursing Students of Saint Luke's

The Saint Luke's College of Health Sciences in Kansas City has had so many wonderful opportunities since we arrived.  The number of things we have been able to accomplish in so few days has been a great learning experience for all of us.  Thanks to the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing, our entire group has been able to go out to barrio clinics which allowed us to immerse ourself in their culture and really get to use our nursing skills.  We have also spent time in the local schools doing basic screenings for the children...checking for lice, fungus, basic vision and dental screenings, skin checks and even a visit with a doctor.  We ended our screenings with a anti-parasitic and a vitamin.  During the school screenings we saw well over 750 elementary aged children. 
We have had a great time exploring the areas around the schools, barrios and the guesthouse.  It never fails during a walk through the neighborhoods to find yourself surrounded by the local children.  The joy you see in their faces just from being in our presence is heartwarming and a reminder for the importance of the simple things in life.  The people here seem quite content to just sit on their porch in a plastic chair. 
I know we have all learned so much more than we ever thought possible...it goes way beyond medical knowledge.  The things we have learned are going to make us so much better as holistic nurses.  It has just been an amazing expereince.
Not only have we got to use our  nursing skills but we have been able to enjoy many cultural traditions with the people here.  This morning we went to a local school to watch the flag raising, had dinner this evening at a local restaurant and enjoyed ice cream at a local shoppe. 

Some of the things that are needed include:
Children's Chewable Vitamins (LOTS)
Prenatal Vitamins
ACE inhibitors
Beta Blockers
Premetherin
toothbrushes and toothpaste (to pass out to the school children)

From all of us at Saint Luke's!

Tuesday March 15, 2011

The Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing is having a wonderful time here at Solid Rock. Today began with a walk through the market where we admired the amazing fruits and vegetables. We then traveled to La Guasara and set up clinic outside on a porch--it was great to be out in the fresh air. Some of us are a little sunburned but it was well worth it. After clinic we took a moment to enjoy the scenery along the river's edge and soak our feet. Kari, the guesthouse host, made us some fabulous fresh salsa for snack after a day of work--simply amazing. Tonight we are going to try ball again--last night we were not able to get the generator to run the lights on the field so we will try again tonight. We are also excited to see the cloths that Herman the tailor is making for us this week. He came last night to measure us and have us pick our fabrics--such fun.

There is a group here that is working on the supply room during the day while we are out in the barrios. They would like for any furture teams to bring rubber maid containers for storage/organization if able.

Looking forward to tomorrow,
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing Mission Team 2011

"normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are"

Hola! This is Kristen blogging from Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing in Richmond, Virginia. I am a Senior nursing student and will be finished with nursing school in 7 weeks! This is a very exciting trip for me to improve my assessment skills, be immersed in another culture, and see the world of nursing in a different light. There are 11 of us from Bon Secours, 7 nursing students, 2 graduates, and 2 faculty members. We are here until Friday, March 18th. The guesthouse is wonderful, we are very excited to meet people from all over the United States, including two other nursing schools.

I highly reccomend this trip for anyone looking to expand their cultural views and see Dominicans who truly need assistance, whether you are in the medical field or not. We had our first clinical today Los Arroyos and we saw about 160-180 patients. We saw many families, a lot of children. The main illnesses we saw were colds, scabies, fungal infections, GI illnesses, hypertension, and back pain. We have been collecting medications to bring on this trip for about 4 months, and we were able to administer medications to everyone that needed them. We mainly administered antibiotics, hypertensive medications, children's multivitamins, medication for parasites, and analgesics for musculoskeletal pain. The Dominicans were so grateful for our help, often embracing us before leaving the clinic. It was such a gratifying and eye-opening experience. Our spanish is slowly improving, hopefully we will be understanding more by the end of the week! We are very excited to be spending our spring break here, and we look forward to many experiences to come.

"Each of us is here to discover our true selves; that essentially we are spiritual beings who have taken manifestation in physical form; that we're not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences, that we're spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences"
-Deepak Chopra

Current Needs for Med Room/Clinic

NEEDS (and non-needs as well!  :) )
10 and 20 cc syringes
We do NOT need any IV gauges/insytes.
As always, we NEED laps and sponges and any specialty instruments for surgery
sterile bovies (but NOT bovy pads)
sterile towels/drapes/gowns
7 1/2 and 7 gloves (NOT size 6 1/2 or 8 1/2 or 9)
We do NOT need straight caths or suture (unless it's a specialty suture you are sure you will need) or staplers.   We do NOT need clean (but not sterile) paper gowns.  
We do NOT need ibuprofen at this time or extra strength tylenol.  However, we DO need children's chewable tylenol and tylenol drops.   If you plan on using regular strength tylenol we could use more of that.
We DO need children's vitamins (and LOTS of them).  
We do NOT need prenatal vitamins.
We DO need claritin (both adult and childrens)
We do NOT need Keflex.
We do NOT need immodium or tums.
We have at least 1000 or 1500 pills of 400 mg Albendazole. 
We DO need Griseofulvin.
We DO need anti-fungal creams, esp to treat ringworm.
We DO NOT need scrubs- we have an overabundance!
We DO NOT need alcohol pads or betadine prep pads.
We DO need enalapril/ace/beta blockers
We DO NOT need bandaids.

Thanks guys- many blessings!

Nik

Current observed needs for surgical cases in the Clinic

From the Danville, PA and Kalispell, MT team:

- Good week this week, although not as busy as we could have been.  About 35 general surgery and gyn cases.  You should have Nicole down here advertise well in advance what services you can provide.  Again, Monday morning expect a lot of consults to see as the Dominican will line up early to see you.

-there are a couple of people with drains out there after mastectomy, amputations and large sarcoma resection of the leg.  they have been instructed to come in in a week to have the drains evaluated and removed.  Dr. Alvarez in the Clinic knows about them. Fair amount of GYN hysterectomies out there as well.

- any path reports that come back would appreciate if  you forward results and patient updates, concerns etc. to david.sheldon@mac.com   Thanks in advance.  Nicole has this address as well.

- some things you might think about bringing down to make surgical cases easier: 
     small hernia mesh
     tramadol or any narcotic tablets if you can get them in, as there are none here
     oral NSAIDS such as Celebrex
     any DeBakey forceps, as i cannot seem to find more than two down here
     Lap Sponges or RayTecs are in CRITICAL need, as they essentially are gone
     DuraPrep or ChloraPrep are gone and are most useful
     Dermabone or Indermil are gone and are most useful
     size 7, 71/2, 8 gloves are in very short supply
     10 ml and 20 ml syringes are in very short supply
     Nylon suture, 3-0 and 4-0 size  on large cutters for skin closure are needed
     Do NOT need Vicryl, PDS, Monocryl  or Chromic sutures.
     Some Blake drains or JP drains WITH reservoirs are needed.  Seroma Caths would work
     If anyone has a small handheld doppler for pulses etc to donate, that would be great - I thought
          there was one down here last time, but I cannot seem to find it this week.  Several vascular patients
          are out there.  one patient has had a second procedure to amputate toes, but is heading towards BKA.

Hope this message gets to all ahead of time and good luck.  Again, any follow up and path would be
appreciated.

Thanks and God Bless.

David G. Sheldon, MD FACS
Surg Onc / Endocrine Surgery
Kalispell Regional Medical Center
Kalispell, Montana 59901