Giving Thanks to Nurses Who Won’t Stop Giving
As the year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the incredible work our Registered Nurse Response Network has accomplished in 2019. On behalf of the RNRN team, I want to thank you for your part in making it all possible. Each one of our deployments brought compassionate care to those needing it the most, and it’s your support that makes every deployment possible.
In March, RNRN volunteers treated over 1,700 patients in just three days in Peten, Guatemala, one of the poorest areas of the country, where residents have little to no access to medical care or medications. A new team is now preparing to leave in December for our second deployment to Guatemala this year, where volunteers expect to again see up to 2,000 patients in some of the neediest communities near Coban, Guatemala.
With your support, volunteers were deployed weekly for six months to shelters on the U.S./Mexico border to provide much-needed care to asylum-seekers. Volunteers like Jessica Rose, RN from Tucson, cared for people who endured conditions both during their arduous journey and in border detention facilities that created and exacerbated illness and injury. You can read more about the inhumane conditions our nurses found in our report: Compassion Without Borders.
And of course, when Hurricane Dorian struck in August, RNRN volunteers were on the frontlines — hitting the ground in Florida even before the storm made landfall. In coordination with International Medical Corps, RNRN volunteers supported shelters in Florida before relief quickly shifted to the Bahamas, where the storm is on record as the most intense tropical cyclone to hit land and the worst natural disaster in the history of the country.
“I volunteer with RNRN because these missions go right to the core of why I became a nurse,” said Tammi Bachecki, an ICU nurse in Walnut Creek, Calif. “During a disaster a lot of the resources that people might have to help themselves are swept away so it puts them in very dire straits. It is very rewarding for me to provide whatever relief I can.”
RNRN volunteers were part of the first group of aid workers to arrive in Grand Bahama after the storm made landfall. Our nurses not only provided much-needed care over the course of two months of deployments to the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Dorian, they also brought compassion that only nurses can bring to those who experience the unimaginable trauma of seeing family members swept away by ocean waters.
Christine Grant, a registered nurse from Washington, D.C.said volunteering with RNRN allows her to live her core belief that we are all responsible for one another. “The work that RNRN does connects with my spirit and my desire to help those who are unfortunately less fortunate than we are in this country. A crisis can happen anywhere, and I would like to think that individuals would come to our aid. It is simply about taking care of our fellow man, because we are all in this together.”
There are so many ways to support the crucial work of RNRN. You volunteered, you signed up and were willing to go on a moment’s notice, you recruited other volunteers, you covered a volunteer’s shift at your facility when they were deployed, you donated so others could go. And you were on the front lines — in person or in spirit — providing compassionate care for those who need it most. And for that, we thank you.
