A Well Oiled Machine

I didn't get the chance to go get some new clothes today because I wanted to sit in on a meeting for training the full time staff of the hospital.  It is incredible to think that all the staff for a hospital is 12 people-- they all fit into a single room.  This makes things incredibly easy for their communication and understanding of the clear goal of the hospital and quality of care.  I really am seeing hospital administration at its most basic level which is the part of global health administration that I wanted to understand.

Dr. Steve Arrowsmith is conducting the meeting and the first thing that he emphasizes is partnerships.  Centre de Santé et de Leprologie (CSL), Worldwide Fistula Fund (WFF), and Serving in Mission (SIM) are all working together to get this fistula center started.  Each of them has a somewhat different goal so their understanding of one common goal is important at the very start.  Forming strong partnerships that have a solid foundation is especially important in global health work as each group has a different amount of resources to offer to the project.  Dr. Arrowsmith wanted to start this strong partnership at the very beginning.  He also talked about the importance of the hospital in training other people to serve fistula needs in Asia and other parts of Africa.  This will be a teaching hospital to help serve fistula needs all over the world because of its wealth of resources.     

Sarah, a girl a little older than me who is a trained nurse from Washington state was telling her fleet of about 4 nurses what she expects from them:  

"This is a privilege to be here.  These women are hurt and unloved, so we as doctors and nurses have the opportunity to love them. .. I love that the hospital is just a fistula hospital because we can focus solely on these women and their needs.  We have really been given the opportunity to change lives and this is a great tangible way to see that.  Always remember when you are nursing that these women feel shunned and rejected but they have feelings and deserve dignity.  Try and think of what they will need before they need to ask for it.  Take the time to sit with your patients, listen to them, and share your lives with them as well.  When they go home they will look at this place as a place where they were safe and protected.."

Many of the staff had questions about how they treat other primary health problems when they are supposed to only be dealing with fistula.  What if a patient comes in with jaundice or malaria?  Do they send them to another hospital to meet those health needs?  I didn't understand a clear answer to this but from what I understand they will be sent to Maradi with these problems.  I am sure I will see more of this problem after the center opens.

The meeting took a long time as every statement was translated 3 ways: french, hausa, and english.  I sat through the whole thing typing up inventory sheets to post in the stock rooms.  I am excited for our first patient because it will really test how well this oiled machine will work.