Medical Mission Trip

[cmpelleg]

Hi all!

I know this might not be pertinant to this topic, but I'm an RN in a Trauma/Surgical ICU at a level one trauma center. I've been interested in doing a medical mission trip for a while, and it would be great to do one that would utilize some of my skills. But really I'd be happy with anything.

Has anyone done a mission trip and have any suggestions on good organizations to go through? Not even sure where to start.

[IvesRN]

Hello,

I am right there with you and have been looking to do what you just said above. Like you, I have the slightest of an idea of where to start. I will be interested to see what this thread comes up with!

[XYRNMN]

I'm assuming that you're in the US and are talking about going on an international trip to a poor or underdeveloped area to participate in vaccination clinics or other stuff like that, right?

Teams (nurses, a doc or two, and sometimes other disciplines) from my Twin Cities hospital go just about every year to Guatemala, Nicaragua and Vietnam. It usually involves staff from several hospitals, not just mine.

One place to start if you're trying to find out if anything like this has been done at your facility - go talk to your Director of Nursing or Chief Nursing Officer or whatever they call it there. He or she will likely know if nurses from your hospital have participated.

In addition to staff going on a trip, we keep "mission boxes" on most units where if somebody opens up a Femostop or a suction kit and realize you don't need it but it's still clean it gets put into the box.

Before the actual trip somebody goes through it and figures out what stuff may be useful in that environment (in the US just about everything is one-time-use-only; much of the world re-uses or repurposes equipment/supplies/devices many times over).

Then those things are shipped over in advance (so they don't cost $$$ with the airlines).