When I first decided to go to Egbe, I was thrilled to be able to interact with patients since my job as a hospital administrator can be all consuming. I learned in our orientation call with the hospital that because of my administrative background, I would primarily be working as a liaison with the Director of Nursing. I was disappointed initially because I was craving face time with patients and their families. However, I felt the Lord telling me to trust Him. If God wanted to use those admin skills for His glory, who am I to attempt to dictate my purpose?
World Medical Mission in conjunction with ECWA Egbe provided the most amazing two weeks that allowed me to meet with Nurse Adeyemi to understand the challenges she faces while guiding the nursing and midwife workforce in the hospital.
Many of the challenges we face in America are the same challenges she faces in Nigeria. Our dialogue and planning sessions included topics like: staffing concerns, compensation compression, standardization of patient care, staff accountability and leading with purpose. In addition to normal day to day clinical operations, ECWA Egbe provides clinical training for the College of Nursing and Midwifery on a daily basis. Nurse Esther must coordinate the placement of multiple groups of students while maintaining balance creating an environment of learning as well as healing for the patients.
I spent the first week in observation and listening so I could understand how much the culture affects how she manages her teams. We were able to work together, putting ideas to paper that would help her achieve her goals. This was extremely rewarding to see her clearly lay out plans to improve standards of care, enhance quality of care, and create an environment that nurses want to stay and invest into Egbe.
The other part of my job while in Nigeria was something completely unexpected. As I worked in the electronic health record, I found the staff and physicians were typing in open text boxes. This created widespread variation in what was being documented consistently. It was also causing the staff and providers an inordinate amount of chart the daily care of the patients.
I started to meet with all of the physicians and nurse leaders to create assessment forms, order sets, progress notes, and general efficiencies within the medical record. Once I had acquired all that information, I worked to deliver all of these requests. It brought so much joy to see the staff excited about documenting. The providers commented about how much time they will save.
Before I left, I spent two days training one of the IT staff Samuel. He now has the tools and expertise to help long after I left Nigeria.
This experience meant so much to me. I saw God move in beautiful ways. The opportunities of working hand in hand with the staff were a reminder that God’s mission of healing and compassion is universal. The language may be different, the culture may be different, but the care of the sick is the same. God is moving at ECWA Egbe!
