What it's Like to Be a Nurse on the Africa Mercy - My Mercy Ship Adventure #30
Vložit
- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- Hey everyone! Long time no vlog post! Life got pretty busy and I took a brief break from vlogging--but I'm now back and am planning on posting weekly once again!
Check out this vlog to learn about what it's like to be a nurse aboard the ship from my awesome friend Kirsten Murphy!
Stay awesome and thanks so much for subscribing! :)
I want so much to work on a Mercy Ship. I love this story!
You have made life for me again after people lost it. Thank you so much
Beautiful story! Thanks Kirsten and Carys!! ❤️
Seeing the work that God does in patients, caregivers, crew, and day crew makes any and all difficulties worth it! He is faithful!! He is good!
Thank you Carys for returning to us and prepaing a very special vlog. I have been praying for you as you must have times of great tiredness and battles to keep persevering. ... i kept waiting for another vlog and as i’m a nurse this one really reflected a beautiful heart and passion for nursing on the ship. ... blessings 🙏🌍🙏
thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement! I appreciate that so much!
Thank you for the inspiring story. ❤
Carys, Another beautiful video. Don't need an interview but a look at the pharmacy would be nice.
I will see what I can do, I've heard that we are not allowed to film the pharmacy for security reasons or something but I will ask and see. Thanks for the great suggestion!
Thank you for posting again! I loved hearing Kirsten's story, Im a nurse as well and very keen to join you guys on the Mercy ship one day, I'm a NICU nurse and would love to hear some stories about working on the paeds ward if thats possible. Thank you for your service and commitment you are all amazing!
Anna Bocchino, so the wards are actually divided by surgical speciality instead of age (I know-that’s different!) So if you apply as a paeds and/or ICU nurse, you may take care of a mixed age group. However we staff appropriately to make sure that there is a mix of adult and paeds experienced nurses. If you were to work in ICU you would only work with the age you have experience in. Our ICU only has two beds, and as much as possible we try to avoid needing to utilize it. So there’s usually only one ICU patient at a time.
I have so many stories from some of my time on the wards-ortho, cleft lips and plastics. Check out my blog to see some! www.coffeewithkirsten.com
Do you have any other questions?
Thanks so much for this kind comment! I will add your great suggestion to my list, thanks so much!
Would love to see you interview one of the dietitians onboard!!
I've added that to my list, thanks so much for the great suggestion!
I CERTAINTY APPRECIATE THESE PEOPLE WHO HELP PEOPLE THAT WOULD HAVE NO HOPE OTHERWISE, SINCE I VIEWED THIS .I HAVE SINCE GATHER TOGETHER MY FAMILY
AND FRIENDS TO PUT TOGETHER MONEY EACH MONTH (WHAT EVER THEY COULD TO SENT) TO THESE VOLUNTEERS, PEOPLE WHO DOES BEAUTIFUL AND NECESSARY, WONDERFUL SURGERIES FOR THESE PEOPLE. DOCTORS, NURSES, EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SHIP. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!! I WISH I WERE YOUNG ENOUGH TO VOLUNTEER, BUT I'VE DONE MY HUMANITARIAN WORK IN THE PAST...AGAIN 🙏🏽🙏🏿🙏🏼🙏🏻🙏🙏🏽
Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement, together (whether on board the ship or supporting from afar) we can continue providing free surgeries!
@@CarysParker .... YOU ARE VERY WELCOME, AND THANK YA'LL AGAIN!!! AND FORGIVE THE CAPS, DON'T SEE SMALL WRITING.
Your vlogs are always wonderful! Could you give us a tour of the x-ray department and maybe an interview with one of the technicians?
I will see what I can do for sure :)
Good will always superceded evil, well done again MERCY ship
Hi Carys, I’d love to be able to see how the computer and media department are getting on. Thanks for the videos.
thanks for the great suggestion! I will add it to my list! :)
I just applied, hopefully I'll go aboard soon 😍
Aww :) Kristens testiomony was so moving, it really was. Just to try and have the empathy to understand what someone has gone through their entire life with a medical condition is almost impossible unless you've experienced it. I couldn't imagine what it's like to have some of the conditions the patients have there... Then for Kristen or any nurse or any part of the Mercy Ships crew to be a part of changing someones life forever so that they have a better quality of life must be so amazing. It's so awesome what the Lord calls on his people to do. I'm happy that you chose to interview her for this vlog. I tried to go to her website but it didn't load for me for some reason, I'll try again later. Thanks for sharing it. :)
I bet the ship black out was exciting, lol you didn't seem to thrilled to be without AC for a few hours. I'm assuming there were emergency lights on ship correct? or did y'all have to use flashlights?
Again, thanks for sharing another great video. ;)
John Tuffield, hey there! There is a possibility you may have misspelled my name I’m trying to access my blog. It’s Kirsten, not Kristen :) Thank you so much for checking it out!
Kirsten Murphy Oh right on, :) thanks for the correction Kirsten.
Yes we had some emergency lighting, we actually kind of wished we didn't though-- could have played some epic games of hiding go seek otherwise :) Thanks for the comment, I am so glad Kirsten agreed to be interviewed, she's awesome isn't she? She left a few days ago and the ship hasn't been the same since. :(
Carys Parker aww :( Sheesh.. it's hard to say bye to friends sometimes. I know what you're saying, back in December I said goodbye to a very close friend of mine, someone I knew for 13 years. Hopfully you'll see Kirsten again though.
A dark ship would have made an awesome game of hide and go seek, haha. I haven't done that in a long, long time. :p
That would be an interesting game to try and play with a bunch of young adults, lol.
yes I really hope our paths cross again, and somehow ship mates always find each other again. wow 13 years that would be really hard for sure :(
ANd yeah a crazy game for SURE!
Your videos are super awesome and informative! Are you able to do an interview regarding the day-to-day of the ICU ward/patient acuity? Or where I could find more information regarding that? Thank you!
Again, such a good posting. How about one from the dental clinic?
Frieda Schmidt I think we all want to see what it’s like in our old roles now! 😄
I'm actually working on a dental video now! Hopefully it will be up soon!
Hi Carys, thank you for interviewing Kirsten! I've applied as a wound care nurse & am awaiting acceptance. How many patients' wounds would I be caring for in a typical 8 hr shift?
Also, I'm curious, with such diversity on board, what would a typical meal be, in the staff cafeteria? I've watched many videos but have never seen anything about this--is there any selection?
Mercy Ships is (are?) awesome
Why no more posts 😢
What is it like to be a family nurse practitioner on the ship?
Thanks for the video. I am a new grad and will be taking my NCLEX this summer. Do I have to become an OR nurse or med/surg. Also if this is volunteering how much money would a nurse have to save to be able to stay on the ship. Thank you. God Bless.
Hi Carys/Kirsten, I’ve just qualified as a nurse 6 months ago and really want to join Mercy Ships in a couple of years! Is there the opportunity for nurses to join the ship on a long term basis?
Yes there definitely is. We often find ourselves in need of nurse volunteers and so while Some nurses come long term (2 years and up) others come for just a few months.
What are the top five wounds she deals with on a regular basis?
Sean K, The Wound Care team is primarily for our plastic surgery patients. So I see skin grafts (split thickness and full thickness), donor sites, flaps (free, rotational, pedicle, micro vascular and z-plasty), surgical incisions of all kinds (including those that require wound vacs), and sometimes blisters, seromas and occasional pressure ulcers (related to wearing of corrective splints). Oops, that’s more than 5 :) but I did list them in order of occurrence!
Kirsten Murphy Awesome, thanks for the reply! How many wound vacs do you normally manage?
Sean K, let me think... I think the most at one time was 4. We use vacs for wound closure (of course) and also for stabilization of neck or foot grafts. Often those vacs stay in place for a stretch of time and then don’t get put back on. I didn’t include those in my number.
thanks for answering this one, I definitely would not have known!
Hi Carys, I am a medical nurse (11 years on oncology and clinical education). Have no surgical experience. Have you seen any nurses who worked there but had no surgical experience in the past?
Hi Su, wow that sounds like some great experience. We have both CMSRN's and RN's who only work in the wards and not the operating rooms but sometimes it's a matter of certain positions being full. You can check out website here: opportunities.mercyships.org/opportunities-listings/?fwp_sectors=nurses-and-physicians to see what specific nursing positions are needed during the time period you want to come volunteer
I researched the ship, because I was interested in volunteering. I have to ask though, why do the volunteer have to pay fees? Is there a stipend?
That's a great question, we have major donnors who pay to keep the ship running but the crew fees basically pay for your room/board/food etc. This is how we go about running such a huge surgical ship without charing our patients anything.
Hello! Nursing student here, Do you have to know French and do you get payed on the ship?
you do not have to know French (but it always helps!) And no you do not get paid it is a volunteer organization and part of how we ensure that all the patients can receive free surgeries
do you guys get paid for your jobs
Hi Gracy, Our crew members are all volunteers!