Shortly after sipping on the best coffee in the world (i.e. Guatemalan coffee), we read a devotional about allowing God to renew our minds. And so it was. On this first day of clinical practicum, our minds were exposed to multiple and unique learning opportunities in a place least expected. We worked alongside the healthcare staff at a public health clinic in a village up the mountain from Lake Amatitlan. The seven nursing students were placed in different areas of this small clinic: the consultation room (which was staffed by a pediatrician), the immunization & family planning area and the medication dispensary area. It was amazing to see the level of organization of the clinic staff members given the few resources that they had. We struggled the most with learning how to read a mercury thermometer – turned it left and right, up and down until we saw that silver lining. We also learned that blood pressure would only be checked for patients 14-years of age and older as the clinic...

An experience unlike any other!  It is commonly said that mission trips change the way you view your life upon return to the United States. It can sometimes be hard to imagine how others actually live,  when the most accurate description exposed to us is via movies. The opportunity to experience it first hand was very overwhelming. We Concordia students took to chance to embrace how blessed we are after visiting different houses of people who live throughout the Lake Amatitlan community. The most breath-taking visit was with a woman, Dona Lupe, who was receiving a new vented stove for her home. It was given by voluteers from a Lutheran church in California. Remember, the word "home" is not what you would imagine it to be. Sheets of metal put together with a metal roof held down by cinder blocks is not my idea of a "home." However, for 18 years, this was the woman's home. She was currently prepping all her food on a giant rock slab that went about waist-hig...

Visting the Guatemalan hospital By definition, a "hospital" is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. When thinking about a hospital, I sort of pictured a set off of the show Gray's Anatomy. The white linen, white walls, blue scrubs, monitors beeping every which way with gloves and antiseptic gel everywhere you look. Here in Guatemala, I assumed that it would look similar but be outdated compared to what I was used to. The problem with assuming anything, is that you never know the real truth. The 150 year old Guatemalan hospital was nothing that as nursing students in the United States, we would probably ever imagine. Walking in, the entrance was gated and locked to the outside community. After entry, patients were sitting outside the room to be seen, waiting their turn again. Within the hospital there were various rooms based on the specialty that was needed to be seen. It ranged from me...