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Home > Profiles in Nursing
Posted July 2, 2006
Melissa Weber, RN / Recovery Room Nurse at Lutheran Medical Center
 Melissa Weber has been a nurse at Lutheran Medical Center for seven years. She started at Lutheran as soon as she graduated from the nursing program at Long Island College Hospital. With one of the areas busiest emergency rooms and trauma centers, she’s seen all kinds of things at Lutheran. She loves being a nurse.
She would see ads in magazines for medical mission type work and the occasional ad on TV, all of which frequently had her wondering what it would be like. It’s something she thought about but never realized she could actually do it one day. “With application procedures, interviews and paperwork, it seemed like a long process that I just wouldn’t have time to complete,” she said.
 Then one day last year, she heard about Lutheran’s trip to Honduras. She read the articles the public relations office wrote, heard the first-hand stories and saw posters showcasing the kids and families the volunteers helped on the mission.
Immediately, I asked around. This would be different since so many people that I work with had done this and regularly volunteer for the mission. I spoke to Dr. Haher and Dr. Kilaru, two well-respected Lutheran surgeons that are also key figures on the Honduran medical mission. This was the best possible situation. I could do something I always wanted do and not be totally afraid since there were eight other co-workers on the trip. But I was still nervous. It would be my first time away from home without my family or friends.
 I didn’t know what to expect, but once there, I wanted to take all the kids home with me. It was very touching. I still think about Rosa, a young patient with Blount's disease, a rare growth disorder that causes the legs to bow outwards just below the knees. She was operated on last year, but because of the severity, came back for revisions. She was just the sweetest thing. After her first exam we told her and her mother that we needed an X-ray and explained where to go. They got up to leave, and just before Rosa was through the doorway she turned around, held out her hand to me across the room, and even though my Spanish isn’t that good, I knew she was saying: “Are you coming with me?” Well needless to say I jumped, she grabbed my hand, and we went to get an X-ray together.
The people there – like Rosa – are just so happy and affectionate. It really touches your heart.
The nurses’ role in a Honduran hospital is entirely different than in the United States. They play many roles. The same nurse will rotate in the OR, get equipment and supplies ready, assist with surgery, and also work with the patients in the recovery room. As a recovery room nurse at home we don’t go anywhere near the operating rooms. We have so many more resources in the states that these are totally separate jobs. Additionally, the patients – even the young children – have to wait alone before surgery and after surgery while in recovery. In the US people are used to seeing their family right away in the recovery rooms. I felt horrible for the young kids that had to wait alone, but in the end I realized it’s just different, not necessarily better in every aspect. The kids for the most part seemed to be taking it all in stride.
All in all it was a tremendously rewarding experience. We stayed in cabins, got to know each other better. We made bathroom schedules in the early hours (we were out the door every morning by 6 a.m.) and although it took us three days to figure out there was a special hot water button in the kitchen, we took our cold showers just thinking that’s the way it was done in Honduras.
 We saw a variety of patients you could ever imagine. I helped with the removal of a young girl’s deformed toe, cleaned foot wounds on an elderly woman suffering from diabetes, assisted with a spica cast (a cast that encases a child from stomach to feet to stabilize the hip and legs) for a five-year old boy, and much more.
The experience reminded me what nursing is all about. That special bond between the nurse and the patient. In the US you can be wrapped up in policies and procedures and loose that connection. In Honduras, it’s the nurse meeting the needs of the patient with no extra forms to fill out. It brings you back to the roots and basics of nursing, the relationship with the person you are serving. Strangely, even though nurses wore many hats in Honduras, we felt that there was more time to bond and care for everyone.
I hope to go again next year. If you can find the time I’d definitely recommend researching, and going on this type of trip.
Click here to read more about Melissa's volunteer mission to Honduras.
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