IN-COUNTRY DISCOVERIES

     Spending the week in Grenada made me realize my love for public health. Previously, I had a plan for my nursing career; I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do. However, now I am questioning it due to how much joy serving in Grenada brought me.

     In class, we have been taught about meeting our patients where they are and taking their cultures into consideration when educating them, but nothing drove it home like experiencing it firsthand. After performing the blood pressures and blood sugars, if they were high, the patients were often already aware or expecting those results and had the appropriate medications to manage it; they just were not being compliant. For the blood pressure medications, they often reported that they wouldn’t take their medication if they were “feeling fine” and that way they were also making their prescription last longer because they couldn’t always afford it. We also got similar responses in regards to their insulin or metformin use. Additionally, they drink a lot of juice, which contains a lot of sugar, that people didn’t want to give up because it’s such a big part of their culture. This allowed me the opportunity to put into practice meeting patients where they are and really being strategic about how we educate them and try to find ways to improve their health that they would be willing to do.

     Whether they decided to follow our advice or not, every single individual I talked to was so appreciative of us being there and taking our time to try and help them. Spending time with the people brought me such happiness; I am ready to go back!