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| Travel nursing career-visit places and people all over the world
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| Monday
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Trinidad Nabarrete used to dream of visiting places and people all over the world.
She says she fulfilled this dream and more when she became a nurse, joined the Peace Corps and eventually became a volunteer for the Red Cross.
Nabarrete was born in Waipahu, Hawaii, where she went to a three-year nursing school. After receiving her nursing degree in 1960, Nabarrete joined the Peace Corps and spent 18 of her 40 years of nursing overseas.
Nabarrete said she decided to practice nursing overseas because she always wanted to travel.
"I used to read National Geographic a lot. I thought, I'm living in Hawaii (and) I'll never leave this place. And then, the thing is, as long as you're nursing and people get sick, they'll always need nurses all over the world. So I joined the Peace Corps and from there I started traveling internationally.
"Nursing is like the teaching profession - you are always teaching. And you know what? It empowers people ... when you share some of your knowledge and your skills. You hope it makes it a little better for somebody, and that's where I'm coming from. That's why I enjoy volunteering."
In the 1960s, Nabarrete was sent by the Peace Corps to places such as Mulga, Turkey, where she worked at Care Medical, which supplies food to different nations. She eventually went to Saudi Arabia for two years and worked at the Riyadh King Faisal Medical Center.
"Traveling was an education in itself," she said. "It's something that nobody can take away from you. It's a unique experience that is so individual.
"You learn so many things and I learned a lot about myself, traveling by myself. And you learn that basically people all around the world are the same. They smile the same, they sing the same (and) they bleed red. It's so easy for me to see beyond what's outside and really appreciate the person from the inside."
One of Nabarrete's last assignments was working with the Department of Defense in Augsburg, Germany, in 1992. "It was cold over there," she said, laughing. "So I prayed and said, 'God please let the next job be some place warm.'"
And, while Nabarrete was visiting her sister in Seattle, the director of nurses called and told Nabarrete there was a position open at the Fort Yuma Indian Hospital in 1992. "I had no idea where Yuma was," she said.
She got the job and came here. Then in 1998, she joined the Red Cross in Yuma because "I was looking to do volunteer work in the community."
She's been a Red Cross volunteer ever since. "I wanted to do something different from nursing," and "volunteering is fun and you meet a lot of wonderful people, I enjoy it."
As a member of the Red Cross disaster team, she goes to disasters such as single-home fires where assistance like housing, food and clothing is given to victims.
Nabarrete has traveled around the United States, assisting Hurricane Katrina victims and, most recently, those caught in the California fires and people suffering through Hurricane Dolly in Texas.
Nabarrete said that Hurricane Dolly was her ninth disaster. She was a nurse for the Red Cross shelter there in Texas.
"The people come because they can't cook their meals and things. There is also a lot of health teaching because with a lot of disasters, like when you have the floods and the mosquitoes, people walk in contaminated water. They're drinking contaminated water and all these things so you have a lot of health issues compounding already what they have.
"I really enjoyed my job. Nursing is like teaching. You hope it makes it a little better for somebody. Most of my work has been in hospital nursing. However, as a volunteer I go where they need me. If they need me in the hospital that's fine, if they need me in the fields that's fine (and) if they need me to teach that's fine."
Although Nabarrete enjoys her job, she said the hours can be draining. "You don't mind working real hard because there is a satisfaction in it, but it also takes a toll on you."
Members of the Red Cross rotate their shifts to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for local disasters. "In the Red Cross we work 12 hours a day, and sometimes we don't have a day off for (10) to 14 days. But you can't complain because the discomfort, or the things that (are) hard for me is nothing compared to what the people have to go through."
The most rewarding part of volunteering for Nabarrete is "when people come up ... and say to me that you've helped them. Parents come up and give you a report on their children that you've taken care of. It's a wonderful feedback (and) that's my reward."
She added, "I hope my story inspires other people." (source) |
posted by blogger @ 6:32 PM
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