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5 Internships in Rwanda

International Medical Aid (IMA)
1014 reviews

International Medical Aid (IMA)

Nursing/Pre-Nursing Internships Abroad for Aspiring Nurses

International Medical Aid (IMA) proudly pioneers nursing and pre-...

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Let's Go Africa
00 reviews

Let's Go Africa

Let's Go Rwanda Program

We Sponsor Ambitious Youth; who do not have financial means to ob...

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A Life-Changing Journey: How My Nursing Internship in Kenya Transformed My Perspective and Career

by: Cameroon Sniderman - United StatesProgram: Nursing/Pre-Nursing Internships Abroad for Aspiring Nurses
10

The last month in Kenya changed me. I can't describe the impact Kenya has had on my heart, and I will forever be grateful for the memories I have made that will shape the rest of my life and nursing career. I’m beyond devastated to leave because the staff, interns, and locals in Kenya welcomed me with open arms and fully immersed me into their culture, but I know for certain I will be back to rekindle my forever friendships! There are no words to sum up how incredibly thankful I am to have experienced the full beauty of Kenya and its incredible people. Thank you for bringing me perspective and shifting my mindset to encourage a better version of myself. ASANTE SANA KENYA and IMA for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. P.S. I'm gonna miss the food so much! A portion of my heart is in Mombasa, Kenya and it will travel with me for the rest of my life. Through the experience with International Medical Aid, I learned how to step out of my comfort zone and always strive to do and be my best no matter the environment or people around you. Not only did I learn more within the field of nursing and medicine, but I learned how to prioritize, think quickly, and adapt to any measures given. The biggest gift International Medical Aid gave me was the opportunity to meet lifelong friends. Not only did I bond with my fellow interns from IMA, but I also bonded with nurses and medical officers who work in Kenya. I sat for hours learning about the ins and outs of nursing and life in Kenya. To be able to compare our lives and acknowledge the differences and similarities between each other, taught me to be cognizant of others, what they have been through and how we are different, while connecting on what brings us together. I feel beyond grateful for the people I met in Kenya. From their welcoming attitude, laughing at nursing school teachers, going to dinner, talking about relationship issues, fun gossip and serious issues, we built forever friendships. From worlds apart that are completely different, we always connected on the same things. Our differences made our relationship beautiful. Through my nursing career, I promise to acknowledge the difference between me and others, and celebrate them, instead of allowing that to create distance. I now understand the value of immersing myself in someone else's culture and learning from the people and experiences. It allows you to learn so much more than any textbook can teach you. My experience in the hospital from a medical perspective was beyond eye opening. I loved seeing how patient’s family members took the role of the nursing assistants, that we have in the United States. It showed how they value family and the Kenyan culture of love and hospitality. I learned from my fellow colleagues the importance of resourcefulness, as in using gloves for tourniquets, saving gauze and open sterile gloves if unused, hanging IV’s off of windows, and sharing beds for infants if need be. Healthcare for everyone stems from the same place, no matter where you are, with whatever resources are around, the end goal is always the same. Watching Coast General nurses and doctors eventually get to the same desired goal encourages me to be less wasteful and to realize how much extra resources we have in the United States. I found the hospital experience to be so inspiring. It drives me to root my career in serving under-sourced countries. I hope to use my education and ability to provide care communities that have little to no resources. Shadowing and working alongside the most knowledgeable people, gave me so much valuable information on global health, specifically in Kenya. Their dedication to Kenya while working in unbelievably challenging work environments, is both motivating and inspiring. These working conditions were elaborated on during one of the lectures so I was able to start to understand the depth of their overall healthcare issue. Due to these conditions, I took note of the lack of empathy given to the patients, sometimes I noticed Coast General staff be very apathetic towards patients. For example, working in labor and delivery, I reached out to one of the mothers and touched her shoulder and said good job mama after all the nurses has been screaming at her, and she squeezed my hand and started to cry. I took so much away from that interaction, the simple act of kindness made such an impact on her. Allowing her to be vulnerable during a very difficult time. It motivates me to continue to lead with empathy and kindness toward all my future patients. Being able to see the epidemic of infectious diseases in comparison to the United States, where we have an epidemic of chronic diseases, allowed me to take a step back and realize all the things I can improve in my own community, as far as illness and community outreach. It seems that the reason Kenya has less of an issue with chronic disease is because most people are not living sedentary lifestyles and/or eating a westernized diet. Dr. Shazim lead a lecture of “Disease Burden in Kenya” which taught us why we were seeing the communicable disease we were seeing at Coast General but also about the uprising epidemics of poor mental health and chronic issues like “cardiovascular and metabolic disease including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, and chronic kidney disease” (Shazim, slide 4). Mental health being a scary issue Kenya faces with only fewer than 500 mental health specialists to serve over 50 million people (2021, Marangu, E). One of the most mind blowing aspects of my internship in Kenya is the lack of health literacy of the common citizen. For example, if anyone in the United States saw someone giving CPR they would know that the victim is in a very unstable condition and all measures are being practiced to resuscitate that person back to life. Yet, in Kenya when CPR was given to a very young infant, I watched the mother have almost no reaction. I was so confused and I Sniderman had to step back and realize she didn't even know what the doctors were doing, she just assumed the healthcare providers were helping her young son. Soon later they turned to her and pronounced him dead and then she had a surprised and devastated reaction, as she had no clue that CPR was a procedure used when someone is close to death. This was shocking, in fact it really made me reflect on the importance of patient teaching. The reason I was able to identify the issue of health literacy with this woman was due to one of the lectures during my first week. In the lecture “ The Current State of Health Care in Kenya” given by one of the amazing IMA staff members, they had mentioned one of the biggest systemic issues in Kenya on why people are not getting the healthcare they need was due to health literacy (slide 40). In nursing school they harped on how you must teach everything to your patient and watching the lack of patient education and general health literacy made me incredibly aware of incorporating that heavily into my career. Not only was the hospital a valuable place to grow my education, but I found the lectures and treks added a lot to my overall experience with all of the community outreach opportunities. I was able to fully understand the differences between our countries. One of the many highlights of my stay in Kenya was outreach to the schools. One in particular, where we helped to educate children on hygiene and women's health, was a highlight. They were so warm, welcoming and excited to learn everything we were explaining to them. I have never felt so much love and gratitude from people in my life. They were eager to learn and they valued the time we spent with them as much as I did. I truly have never smiled so much in my life. I learned so much about healthcare throughout my time in Mombasa, but more than that I learned the value of a smile, a hug, a compliment, patience, and understanding. Asante Sana Mombasa and International Medical Aid. I’m going to continue to work hard so I can come back to Mombasa and rekindle my friendships as well as give deserving healthcare to the beautiful people of Kenya.

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