Has anyone worked with Operation Smile?

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Lately I've been feeling a bit down at work - feeling stuck in a funk - and I realized that I'm in need of growing professionally and perconally so I decided volunteer work would be perfect.

I'm interested in working with Operation Smile [my uncle in Nicaragua was actually treated by them]. I'm just wondering what "Nursing" responsibilities are - I've only been a nurse for almost a year [graduated last May, got my license in July, started working in Aug. on a Oncology/Medsurge floor] so my experience has been very limited...

If you have volunteered, what was it like???

Anyone know of any other organizations that need nurses?

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You can go to http://www.volunteer.org/ and there're plenty of volunteer positions. Right now, I worked as a volunteer/community presenter and educated the public about stroke prevention. It's fun and very meaningful :)

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Specializes in med-surg.

My coworker worked with Operation Smile last summer and she said it was intense. I am also interested in volunteering for OS, but she convinced me to wait. The nurses that work with OS are in charge of assessments, preop care, operative care, and post op care. and that sounds like you need A LOT of skills to me. Plus my coworker said that she worked her butt off...sometimes 20 hour days, because they try to do as many children as possible. Hope this helped...

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I have checked into OS a bit and they want their nurses to have been working the past 2 years in OR/ICU/Med-Surg in order to qualify for volunteering. Sounds like the nurses have to hit the ground running.

There is a Volunteer Nursing forum here, under the specialties. Maybe you can find some info there.

Best of luck to you!

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

We just did an OP-Smile in Miami. It's great! If you are interested, I can get you in touch with our peeps--just repost here. My group goes to Haiti about 4 times a year. We have another group that goes to South America and Asia.

Good luck to you--it is, indeed, a very satisfying thing to do.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Oh yes, it does require excellent and well-practiced nursing skills.

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