I rarely comment, but I've been a regular reader for awhile and wanted you to know that I nominated you for an award! You can check out the details on my blog. Looking forward to your next post...
As a nurse myself, I just have to once again say that I admire you and your gutsy-ness SO much. I just moved, and am getting a tiny little taste of what it is to not be spoiled. My old unit had all sorts of lovely ancillary staff, whom I loved - resp. therapy, lab, unit secretaries, a wonderful tube system, children's pharmacy ... basically, you name it we had it.
I'm learning quickly that it's not that way everywhere. I'm also learning to be "super-nurse" as I like to put it, the nurse-of-all trades. I can't imagine doing all that on a ship in Africa in a different language...