Lindsey Cullum

Univ290 – C04

Patrick Hickey

27 March 2017

Refection on Service Learning in Nicaragua

Nicaragua has changed my perspective of mission work and international health care. I

chose this program as a way to determine how well I would fit into the medical field, and how

much I would enjoy doing this kind of work. I knew it would be an amazing opportunity to get

hands on experience with real patients, something I will not be able to do for years here in the

US. This specific trip seemed perfect to me, since it was only a little over a week but was packed

with plenty of opportunity to learn and participate. This, combined with how much I love to

travel, made the decision to go on this trip pretty easy.

Before this trip, I never really spent time thinking about illness in impoverished

communities. I knew there was poverty in Nicaragua, but I never really thought about just how

sick the people there could be. In America if you’re sick, you just go to the nearest doctors’

office or drop-in clinic and you get a prescription. Our insurance companies help us out,

lowering the prices of the medicines we need. But many of the people we helped in Nicaragua

did not have this kind of insurance, nor did they have the money for even basic medications

such as ibuprofen or cough syrup. Seeing the differences in Nicaraguan and American health

care systems was one of the most distinct things that I learned from this trip. Even the hospital

setting was intensely different than American hospitals. The practices of Nicaraguan hospitals

would never pass US standards. Doctors gave shots without wearing gloves, and I even heard
that one nurse was eating in an operating room. We, as visitors, were allowed to walk in and

out of the OR without notice, without even the precaution of washing our hands. I saw a C-

section, and the OR I was in did not seem sterile, nor did the machines seem up to date. Though

I have not personally been in an American OR, I know how important scrubbing in and sterility

is. Due to my vast knowledge from Grey’s Anatomy, I can already tell just how different

hospitals are here in America. Hopefully in the future I can expand upon my Grey’s Anatomy

experience and see what a real OR is like.

I am excited to be able to apply everything that I learned on this trip to my major,

nursing. In my Anatomy class right now we are learning about the kidneys, and urination. The

teacher mentioned urine tests, and started to explain what they looked like and how to read

them. I was proud of my knowledge on urine tests, and that I had already performed three tests

to real patients during my time in Nicaragua. I believe I could apply something I learned in

Nicaragua to any course I am enrolled in right now, as well as to future classes throughout the

nursing tract. Even my African History class has taught me how to not stereotype an entire

country, and I therefore did my best to create an open mind about Nicaragua as more than just

poverty and illness. In the future, I know my experience with taking blood pressure and

listening to respiratory rates will help me succeed throughout clinicals and my nursing specific

classes.

My intended path is to hold a career in nurse anesthesia. My path to becoming a CRNA

requires experience in taking vitals and handling patient care with confidence and compassion. I

am required to work a few years before applying to graduate school in a nursing setting. I hope

to work in a hospital, where I will be able to apply and build on what I have learned in
Nicaragua. As a CRNA I will be required to work in an OR alongside doctors and other nurses.

Everything I learned during this course, and during this trip, will prepare me for some of what is

required in a medical field profession. I will have already have experience with certain aspects

of taking vitals and asking patient care questions, as well as OR experience. This summer I hope

to shadow a CRNA so that I will also have the American OR experience, not just the Nicaraguan

one.

Overall, this trip has allowed me to expand my knowledge of world problems. I now will

be able to compare third world health care to other experiences in America, and educate

others on the problems faced in countries such as Nicaragua. I left Nicaragua with a new

understanding on how to help people, even if it is in small ways or big ways.