Unfortunately, because of our travel delay, our first full day was a Friday, a Muslim holy day. The outpatient clinics were closed except for a few patients who were waiting for the foreign doctors to arrive. We saw those patients and then rounded on the patients that were in the inpatient department. The small 16-bed ward was full. Most of the patients were mothers who had delivered babies. They were doubled up in their beds with their babies. There also were some infants and toddlers who were being treated for diarrhea and dehydration or respiratory illness.

On Sunday morning, when the outpatient clinic opened, there were many people waiting to be seen by the doctors. Then, before we could start seeing patients, we were told that a child was just brought in who was injured after falling off a bamboo bridge. Upon examination, the child, about 7 years old, had a puncture wound to his abdomen with his bowel protruding. The nurses quickly took him to the inpatient ward, started an IV and antibiotics IV, and plans were made for surgery. Because this hospital focuses on maternal and child care, they do not have a pediatric general surgeon. Our OB/GYN surgeon from the US agreed to do the surgery because the child would likely not be able to travel to the district hospital several hours away. In addition, the family could not afford the transportation and the cost of medical expenses. The surgery well. There was only minor damage to the bowel which was repaired. Because the nurses there don't take care of pediatric surgical patients, we worked together to provide this child with pain management and other important post-op care. By the time we left the hospital several days later, the patient was doing well, up and walking about and even smiled at us. The image of this child will stick with me forever.

I was very impressed with the skills of the physicians and the nurses of Bangladesh that worked in this hospital. I also was impressed by what they can accomplish with what little they have. I am used to lots of monitors feeding me all kinds of information. They have one monitor, which is a pulse oximeter, used in the operating room. They have an IV infusion pump, but had no tubing for it and therefore they couldn't use it. One of the supply items I brought with me was tubing for this pump. I also was able to take the time to teach several of the nurses how to use the pump so that they may make use of it either for delivering medications to a patient in labor or having better control of IV fluid management on a small infant or child. One pump! It made me realize what luxury I have to be able to use as many pumps as I need, to have the equipment and supplies I need to care for my patients here in the U.S.

The people we met while in Bangladesh, both the employees of Lutheran Healthcare Bangladesh and people in the communities, were very friendly and welcoming. They were excited to meet us and wanted to share their stories with us. They seemed grateful that we were there to help provide care to the patients and education to the staff. The children, no matter what their personal circumstances, always seemed to have smiles on their faces. Thank you, Fairview Foundation, for helping to make it possible for me to use and share my nursing skills with the people in Bangladesh.