the a-team

Remember how I thought it couldn't get any worse than Monday? It did. Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with their own myriad problems, from sick babies to surprise ICU patients. Today was slightly better, but I have never known the wards to be as hectic as they were this week.

Through it all, I was constantly amazed by the nurses that I work with. We are women (and two men!) from all over the world. We possess incredibly varied knowledge, and we come from all different types of units in our hospitals at home. Here, the patients can pretty much fit into just a few categories, often ones none of us have much prior experience with at all. And yet it works. Somehow, it works.

There's Lanita, who's never worked pediatrics before, jumping in to A Ward (full of kiddos at the moment) and taking such good care of the little ones. Amy never started an IV on a child before coming to the ship from her home in Australia, but she's now earned the nickname Rocky 'The Juker' Balboa, throwing needles in left and right and even helping out in the CT room. Mandy is a midwife; she deals with mamas and their well babies at home. Here, she's been handed plenty of sick kids, and she just smiles and laughs and loves and cares for them. We've got new nurses who have just gotten over their jet lag and they're already willing to work the extra shifts that the full wards are demanding.

And this is to say nothing of the nurses who are working close to their comfort zones. Denice is a pediatric nurse, but she's new to the ship. Which doesn't seem to phase her at all, since she's an amazing advocate for her babies, making sure they get what they need when they're sick. We've got Laura, who loves to work nights, gives those of us who've been here a while a much-needed break by taking our nights for us, and is an oncology nurse at home. Which means she can handle the special IV port that a doctor just placed into a patient who will be coming back next week for more surgery. Brenda has been swapping shifts to make sure that we have enough pediatric nurses to look after the little ones, and when I thank her for it she just smiles and shrugs.

Because that's how it works here. God has pulled us all from our homes and our families and our lives, and he's placed us exactly where He needs us. We are all called to do the work that He's set out for us. Each one of us is here at the right time, not a week too soon or a day too late. All I have to do is stop worrying and thank Him for it.

Easier said than done, but I'm getting there.