Today I was so lucky to be able to work/observe as a student nurse at Makassed! This is one of the largest hospitals in this area and is actually run through a charity. Many transfers are made from Gaza and surrounding areas and many of the nurses travel up to 8+ hours to work here for 15+ years. It has been such an eye opening experience to be able to interact and see the culture as we serve those who need us most. Today I was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which was awesome! Although I couldn't really do anything because the babies were so tiny, and because I am a foreign student nurse, it was great! The babies were so tiny and precious! Just so you can picture this children there were some who ranged from 700 grams to maybe 1500 grams and most had been in there for at least a week. I have noticed at this hospital there are many birth defects that are caused from marrying family, which happens alot in the Gaza due to border control. It is so sad to see these families so far from home with such sick children. It was also difficult to see the tiny babies with every tube posible and still struggling.
One experience that I had today, will forever change the way I view nursing and life in general. As I said earlier I was with some pretty critical babies and everything isn't all hunky dory all the time in these units. At one point I was watching my nurse give "my baby patient" suction when all of a sudden another nurse came to grab me and told me there was an emergency in a neighboring bassenette. I go over there to see a limb baby who was pale and showed no zest for life. Nurses began to do compressions and bag this poor little baby, clinging on every hope for survival they could. I honestly thought I would break down at this point, but it was so amazing to see the healthcare team working together with the same goal just praying for this little man's life. The respirations, oxygen, and heart rate just wouldn't go up. They called X-ray to see what was going on but that would take too long. FInally they intubated this poor little man, hooking him up to a ventilator in hopes they weren't too late. It was amazing to see the color return to his body, his chest start to raise with the machine, and everyone begin to breathe again. The baby was fine throughout the rest of the shift. He was still on the ventilator which meant more tubes and machines near by, but he was alive. This experience was really an amazing chance to realize the vulnerability of life. It can really be gone at a moments notice, but it can also be given with just the simplest acts. Cherish the life you were given and make the most out of every breath you take!
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