I travel with a program called Volunteers in Medical Missions (VIMM). The program is based in South Carolina and attracts volunteers from all over the Unites States. VIMM is a team of doctors, nurses, and other volunteers who provide care for the spiritual and health needs of children and adults in developing countries. The missions are organized in clinic settings in poor communities and villages. As a nurse, I have traveled twice to Guatemala, and returned from Haiti in October.

My role involves distributing vitamins and medicine to prevent worms. Patients sometimes wait for hours to see one of the doctors. The doctors write prescriptions for basic pharmaceutical medications or just "worms and vits." The clinic typically has a gift table with small trinkets, and an eyeglasses station.

The mission in Haiti had a dentist who averaged 20 tooth extractions in 6-8 hours. I also served as the treatment nurse in Haiti: checking blood sugars, administering wound care, giving IM injections to children, and starting peripheral IVs if needed.

The nursing role is pretty flexible in these "clinic" settings. One nurse provides triage with an interpreter; a few fill prescriptions; one or two distribute vitamins; and others assist the doctor and dentist with procedures. Sometimes it works well, and sometimes it is just organized chaos!

I have encountered a wide variety of people on my mission trips. Knowing that other people share my passion for serving the less fortunate reinforces my personal view of how I want to live my life. After I return from a mission trip, I feel very grateful for what I have and for my position as a registered nurse. I feel renewed just thinking about the experiences of seeing different countries as they truly are, and knowing that for a moment I may have helped someone.

In Guatemala, I've seen frail elderly women in a mountainous Mayan village who have very little but are still very appreciative of the Tylenol they've received for their pain. I have also encountered young mothers with many children and few possessions who smile proudly as their children play with a small gift. Or the school children who watch us work, and giggle as we try to learn the language. In Haiti, it was heart-wrenching to see poverty-stricken areas and the lack of health care.

Taking part in medical missions has taught me the value of health care and the role a nurse plays in patients’ lives. With so many advances in technology and treatments, it is nice to see how a little can do a lot for a community.

Naomi Hemmah, RN, is a staff nurse on the 6^th Floor medical/surgical unit.