Life at Lusaka University Teaching Hospital

Ok so the course at Lusaka University Teaching Hospital is going well. 3 nurses, a German, who runs a HIV/AIDS hospice in Kabwe, Alofa, a PNG nurse, who I will be working with at OM Lake Tanganyika and I are spending 2 weeks preparing for the foreign nurses exam. We are undertaking a series of classes in tropical medicine, pediatrics, general medicine and surgery, which accounts for 75% of the exam, the other 25%  is a 100 questions of multiple choice. The style the Zambian Nursing Council wants the essays is very different to the exams I sat in the UK. I shall be sitting the exam on May 31st. Please pray for me that day, that God will give me wisdom and knowledge to answer the very tough questions on it.

Below are a few pictures from UTH Zambia's best public hospital. 

A medication draw!

The other week I took Gift for a urology appointment. The doctor advised removal of his size 18 rubber catheter, however it would not come out so he called for his consultant who came, had a tug and then inflated the balloon inside the bladder with 30mls of water. He then got a needle and popped the balloon inside the bladder with a needle, (but had not sterilized the skin before doing it or used an aseptic technique. The method to remove the catheter worked very well, but the un-sterile technique then caused Gift to get a bladder infection over the next few days, fortunately he did not go into retention, but was in lot of discomfort for the next few days. Other than this he is doing well, its about 12 months since the road traffic accident where he was paralyses, and is making slow progress. But over the last 2 months since Ive been working with him his upper body strength is improving and he is able to turn him self in bed now. Please pray that his recovery continues and he can continue to inspire the people he comes into contact with.

Gift sharing his testimony at a recent disability day.

A pulmonary TB patient with weight-loss. 

A 4 hour wait in the emergency room is a thing to dream of, last week 4 women died of emergency obstetric problems due to not being seen in time.

The emergency room pressure for beds is great! Watch out Poole A&E