Onboard the world’s largest charity hospital ship, they met another Hutt nurse Alison Brieseman, who for seven years volunteered in the Mercy Ships theatres.
The length of two football fields and seven stories high, Mercy Ships provides a transportable healthcare platform for the 450 international crew, including a steady stream of Hutt Valley DHB nurses, to treat the poorest of the poor in the developing nations of Africa’s West Coast. Health services are provided for 70 patients at a time in general and intensive care wards, and the ship’s six operating theatres. The theatres are supported by an onboard pathology lab, x-ray and cat-scan, and pharmacy—everything medically required to make the hospital ship self-sufficient in its provision of world-class services. The services are provided free of charge for those who have no other access to healthcare.
Zhalmaine Tuya is currently volunteering for the third time with Mercy Ships, now as the Maxillofacial Team Leader. “I didn't expect my years at Hutt to become a training-ground for maxillofacial surgery on the Africa Mercy,” she says. “My exposure to rare cases such as noma has become an advantage in my nursing practice in theatre. The facial disfigurement caused by these tumours cause a great deal of embarrassment for these patients. They are often shunned by society because of the way they look.”
Rhona Jasonsmith, Hutt Project Manager for Pre-operative Assessment and Surgical Services in 2009 volunteered with Mercy Ships in the following year.
She reflected, “I am utterly impressed with how Mercy Ships can bring an international team together, constantly change the majority of them every few weeks and still manage to conduct surgery at world class standards with efficiency and great team work."
"Mercy Ships accepts experienced Operating Theatre staff from a pool of countries with similar operating standards. That means they can hit the ground running regardless of language barriers. The team leaders are constantly orientating new staff and it’s these long term outreach staff members who manage, against some very interesting odds, to maintain a seamless service.”
Hutt nurses have left a lasting legacy all along Africa’s West coast, from their generous acts of professional service.
Mercy Ships has current urgent nursing vacancies for April and May in Togo. More information www.mercyships.org.nz or 0800 637297.
