Submitted by Stephanie Adams on the 2017 winter session program in the British Virgin Islands sponsored by the College of Health Sciences…
Concluding Week 3 at Peebles Hospital in the British Virgin Islands, I have gotten to work with an amazing group of nurses who have taught me a tremendous amount about their culture from various islands in the Caribbean. I have gotten to work with a various severity of patients. I have been able to care for a baby who had been diagnosed with brain death to elderly patients diagnosed with metastatic cancers. Earlier this week, we went to an island called Anegada and they have a population of 250. They only have a clinic that is staffed by one nurse and the doctor only comes on Mondays. That one nurse is responsible for the entire island’s healthcare needs. I could not imagine being all alone and having all those lives in my hands. All I could think about was the safety issue and how it would never pass in the United States. This program has made me appreciate our healthcare system back home much more!