To my fan club

After being scolded twice this weekend by my loyal fans, I have kicked myself in front of this computer to update the annals.

After many Mondays spent claiming "I think I will start work NEXT" Monday, and weeks of follow up phone calls, faxes, and getting all my various licensure papers in order, I have finally started, and finished my first week of orientation as a nurse at a real hospital.

Due to self-advocacy and incessant follow up, I have finally landed a job at a community sized hospital about 15 minutes away from my house. The most inspiring fact about this job isn't the union, which will certainly be an interesting component, but the staunch mission of this hospital to create a healthier community. Indeed, it is as close as I have come to the clinic in Haiti mixed with my old Community Health center job. The floor has hired 24 hour interpreters in the 3 most commonly needed languages (Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese). I have yet to work a shift (that will be Thursday), but am excited for the potential. Perhaps, to all my fellow breastfeeding devotees, the most exciting piece of news is that this hospital has applied for Baby-Friendly status – of which there are only upwards of 50 others in the whole country. Yes, I am proud of this little place and excited to join the team.

Acting as a perfect compliment, I have also started to volunteer for my favorite non-profit, Partners in Health, as a research assistant. I feel when I go to work, as if I am meeting my favorite movie stars. Yesterday, surrounded by good company and co-workers, I attended the most eloquent, opinionated, passionate talk by Steven Lewis, the UN special Envoy for AIDS in Africa. He champions the feminist cause and highlights the severe toll that this disease is taking on the women of Africa. He sited insane and infuriating statistics such as "9% of pregnant women with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa receive prophylaxis that has been proven to decrease transmission to their unborn baby."

He also stated the crazy fact that the US and England combined spends about 10 billion each MONTH on the War in Iraq (killing people) and less than 8.5billion on AIDS in Africa, a disease that is killing 900 people every hour. His book, a Race against Time, is well-written and passionate and sheds more eloquent light on this topic than I can. I recommend it.

So now, my task is to combine the exciting energy of an international non-profit and with the important work of nursing. Every patient, wherever they are living, deserves the best and most caring care possible. My own mission for the year is to provide this to each patient I have with the same energy that I feel while shrouded by the energy of my personal International-Health stars. Let's see, after 11 hours on my feet, while drowning in IV bags if I can manage this.

I think so.

Here's to good health - for those who really need it right now, those who have it, and those who dedicate their lives to working towards it for others.