And the journey begins..

I MADE IT! I will be here in Punta Gorda, Belize for 1 year starting now. I am staying at the clinic called Hillside Health Care Center. The clinic is staffed with medical, PA (physician assistant), and pharmacy students and currently one physician. We also have two nurse practitioners who are the directors of Hillside.  Clinic is open from Monday-Friday 8am-12pm. Everyday of the week our land cruiser takes half of the students to villages near by who have difficulty accessing health care.  In total there are about 12 students right now. Every 4 weeks a new group of students come to complete a rotation for school. Each student pays a fee of 1400 dollars for the month. With the students tuition Hillside is able to buy supplies, medications, etc. that are needed. 

Right next door to the clinic are the dorms where the students, physical therapist, and I are staying. There is a living room, long dining table, kitchen, 4 bathrooms, and four showers (with hot water!). The dorm is very clean and comfortable. The students share rooms and the physical therapist and I get our own room. Lucky us!

What is my job??

My job is to visit patients who are home bound ie physically not able to leave the house, have no family support, and/or need acute care. I am able to work at the clinic when I have free time with the students. Currently there are two nurses; Liz who is an RN and Sara who is an NP. They live by themselves in a dorm called the "Tree house" which I may be moving into soon. Liz will be leaving in two weeks. Starting Monday she will be handing over her patients to me and filling me in on their conditions and most importantly showing me how to get to patients’ houses! (There are minimal street signs here). Sara will be leaving May 1st so I will be taking over her patients as well. In total I will be responsible for 56 patients! My job is to see everyone once per month and patients with more acute conditions I see multiple times a week. I will have lots on my plate soon, but I am very excited to start! So far I have been a one home health visit for a dressing change on a man who broke both his legs and wrist in a motorcycle accident. We had an audience of family members who were very grateful of our help.

Belize is beautiful. I love that the town is right on the water. The houses are all painted in various BRIGHT colors. The people have been very friendly. Many know me as "the new nurse." I have only had one full day here so far but I love it.

The physical therapist, Monica, showed me around town today and introduced me to many people. She has already been here 6 months and will be by my side for another 6 months. Today we stopped by Dan and Maria's house which is right on the water. They're both nurse practitioners and the clinic directors who have been working here for about 3 years.

Anyway, I hope this gives you a better idea of what I am doing down here. I will do my best to continue blogging when exciting things occur!

Celia