I will be staffing a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit for the VOOM Foundation at the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital in Oraifite Nigeria as a nurse practitioner for 10 days. I will be traveling from Baltimore Maryland to Nigeria to work with a volunteer group to provide preoperative, operative and postoperative cardiac surgery services to an area who does not have the means to provide cardiac surgery. There are over 100 children currently referred to the clinic to be evaluated for surgery, so this mission trip is a much needed service. This trip will provide pediatric cardiac surgery to an underserved, under- resourced area and will allow children to live normal lives after surgery instead of living with congenital heart defects.
Children living with congenital heart defects in Nigeria will benefit from this mission trip with VOOM Foundation. This mission trip will serve the children in Nigeria who are living with heart failure and congenital heart disease who are eligible to receive interventional cardiac services and cardiac surgery. I am currently a pediatric nurse practitioner who serves Baltimore inner city in the pediatric intensive care unit, specializing in cardiac critical care. I have worked with this foundation virtually for the last 5 years in educating their nurses and am now going to not only continue my education in person to the staff in Nigeria, but provide hands on care to this specialized pediatric population.
The expected impact is about 24 open heart pediatric surgeries in addition to over 10 interventional procedures in a two week period. The impact on these children's lives and the lives of their families are immeasurable given these children can now live normal lives without chronic health concerns related to unrepaired cardiac disease. As stated above, I have been involved in virtual learning/simulations with the staff in Nigeria throughout the last 5 years in the effort to educate the staff on the ground so they are ready for missions. We will continue in person education while there for the staff in Nigeria, and we will empower and educate the families about their child's health.
Traveling to Oraifite Nigeria with the VOOM Foundation was a true honor. We were able to serve the children of the Anambra State who are in desperate need of cardiac surgery and cardiology services. During our trip we evaluated over 40 pediatric patients for open heart surgery, having already prescreened 150 patients prior to the mission trip. Ultimately 17 patients received open heart surgery through the dedication of a fantastic volunteer group. We operated on a 3-month-old with a ventricular septal defect who was breastfeeding hours after surgery to a 21-year-old female with Tetralogy of Fallot who had lived with cyanotic heart disease her entire life. The 10 bed ICU was full by the third day of operating with over half of the patients still on mechanical ventilation and requiring vasoactive support. While most patients recovered smoothly and were on the stepdown by their second or third postoperative day, we had several complex cases which required significant effort to treat medically. The postoperative course for many patients was complicated given the longevity of which they lived with a cyanotic heart defect which is a phenomenon we do not encounter in the United States.
My role in the ICU as an intensivist was extremely tasking having to admit up to four patients per day, while managing the other patients postoperatively. I had the privilege of working with medical staff from Uruguay, Canada, Rwanda, The Democratic Republic of Congo and from all over the United States as well as working with the dedicated local staff at The Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital (DIOMH). Part of our mission was to educate the Nigerian staff so that they can one day be competent to care for their people without the help of volunteers. On our first day, before we had postoperative patients to care for, we provided hands on simulation and education to both hospital staff and nursing students from throughout the Anambra State. I continued to teach and guide throughout the seven day mission which I truly loved. I have had the unique opportunity to educate the staff at DIOMH virtually through the VOOM Foundation both through a lecture series and through hosting a virtual simulation course. Being able to teach and interact with the staff in person at DIOMH is something that I truly treasured. It is such a privilege to be a part of their journey as nurses and physicians caring for pediatric congenital heart patients in Nigeria.
The patients and families served by the VOOM foundation were so appreciative of the time and care we gave. These parents are given a devastating diagnosis when their child is young but often times are not offered surgery due to the lack of available medical resources and the child must live with significant heart disease which impacts their daily lives. Some families are able to find medical services when their child is young, but often times the patients referred for surgery have been living with significant cyanotic or congestive heart failure for years. Not only do these families live with chronic illness, they often do not have the financial means to obtain the necessary medical care. The VOOM Foundation offers opportunity, financial support and a chance at a healthier life that would otherwise never be available. Being a part of a team who gave 17 wonderful children and their families a new lease on life will forever be one of the greatest achievements of my life.
