Kijabe Hospital

We arrived back to Kijabe on Wednesday night and the next couple of days were pretty relaxed. Mary had wanted me to start working at the hospital on Thursday but the right person wasn’t in so we had to wait. I was sick on Friday which left me home over the weekend instead of going back to Eburru. I left Eburru thinking I was going one more time so I didn’t get the chance to see a few people. I was also supposed to speak at church on Sunday….so it was a bummer I couldn’t go. I ended up spending some good time with a couple of friends and went to church with them.

Monday, I finally started working at the hospital…..and I so wish I could have started sooner! It was one of the best experiences of my life!
I started off in the “nursery” which is the neonatal unit. The nurses and nursing students were so great! They showed me everything and let me do anything I was comfortable doing. There were about 20 babies with various conditions. Premature, post-surgery, serious infections, jaundice, hydrocephalis etc. They were so tiny and fragile! About an hour after I arrived, a physician brought in a baby that was no more than a skeleton. He couldn’t breath on his own…he was severely malnourished, weighing less than 3lbs with a huge head from the hydrocephalis. He was a twin and the other was chubby and healthy. Apparently he was severely small at birth and has continued to have problems. Over the next two days, he improved some…managed to breath on his own and had gained a very small amount of weight. I loved the nursery and spent a lot of time there over the three days I was in the hospital.
That afternoon, I went over to the delivery unit. They were all standing around with little to do when suddenly several patients were brought in. We were transferring one very sick post-uterine rupture woman to a bed when another woman was brought in behind us. When we ran into to delivery room where she was, the delivery was already in full gear! It was breech so when she got on the table, there were little feet visable…..it was a very quick delivery! The afternoon continued on in similar fashion with one crisis after another! They were having me jump in as if I had been there for years…it was great!

Tuesday, I started in the ICU and the pace was a bit different. Oddly enough, the patient I was caring for in the ICU had been a patient in delivery the afternoon prior! I ended up spending a lot of time with her and her newborn son who was in the nursery. I was in delivery again that afternoon with several more deliveries! The nursery was just down the hall, so I could pop in there to help out and visit my new little friends.


Wednesday 8/5, I started in the “theater” which is the OR. I watched several surgeries, and changed a wound dressing on a 9 year old burn victim. After lunch I just happened to be walking by the delivery unit and a new patient walked in….twins!! The first baby, a boy, was delivered fine but the second wasn’t so easy and wasn’t presented well…..so they sent her to the theater for a c-section. I went with her and watched the procedure. It was amazing! They asked Mary if I wanted to scrub in (meaning to assist the surgery) but she told them she hadn’t asked me….I think she didn’t want to put me on the spot. Shoot! That would have been so cool! Baby #2 was a perfect little girl! What a way to end my rotations at the Kijabe hospital!

All in all it was an incredible experience! I was able to do things that nursing students in the US would NEVER be able to do! They were so patient with me and gave me a lot of opportunity to learn. I made several new friends and know that I would be welcome back anytime! 3 days was just not enough!