Fully Loaded

I am officially the only nurse here at Hillside! It's definitely been challenging managing around 56 patients, but the doctor and nurse practitioners here at Hillside have been supportive and helpful. Dr. Dan has been working with me on various days to see my patients with me as well. It's been helpful having him around to consult when I have questions about my patients.

Each home-bound patient needs to be seen at least once a month. I found out quickly that I've been seeing many of my patients multiple times a month. For example, patients become ill and/or go to the hospital, family members or the patient have questions, patients’ medications are changed, blood needs to be drawn, etc. My days are long and tiring, but I'm finding it rewarding and I'm constantly
learning new things.

At home visits I am responsible for a full assessment, refilling medications, and educating when needed. A full assessment requires listening, palpating, and/or observing all the patients body systems: respiratory, cardiac, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, neurological, circulatory, and musculoskeletal. I've found that I really enjoy teaching family members and getting them involved with the patients care as well.

On a side note, last week I moved out of the dorms and into the "tree house" where the previous nurses were living. I'm enjoying it up here. The tree house, dorms, and clinic are all yards away from one another. I still visit with the medical and pharmacy students since I've moved out of the dorms. I eat dinner with them almost every night.

I celebrated my birthday with the staff on May 3rd! We went to a restaurant down the road called Anaconda. The owner of the restaurant is originally from the U.S. She has been in Punta Gorda for three years now. We had a traditional Belizean meal: chicken, beans, and coleslaw. It was yummy! After eating we danced for a bit trying to burn off the calories from the cake.

To the left is the student dorms. To the right behind the big tree is the clinic.

The tree house! My home for the next 11 months. 

-Side view-
Bottom floor: Hillside's clinic.
2nd level: Storage, administrators office,  and the medical directors room.
3rd level: popular tanning area for students