The Hospital at the End of the World

by Joe Niemczura

Overview

There are 2,600 hospitals in Asia, Africa and South America which could be classified as "Mission Hospitals" - far off the beaten path, providing basic medical service to the poorest people of the world. The Hospital at the End of the World tells the story of a nurse from the USA and his first experience as a teaching nurse in Nepal.

Joe Niemczura brings to life the day-to-day realities of life in a rural teaching hospital, literally at the "end of the road." The harsh realities of a lack of modern medical equipment when mixed with the humanness of endurances demonstrates that above all, it is the individual who matters; both patient and caregiver. All else pales in comparison. The strength of this story is in relationships with students, physicians, other nurses, patients, families and most importantly with Nepal itself. There is a sense of community connectedness which the author brings alive as the reader becomes one with the story. The heartbreak and grief of death to the celebrations of life will elicit those same emotions. The thread through it all is the author's own journey as he discovers himself and renews his spirituality. The reader is immediately pulled into the drama and nakedness, and the beauty and mystery of this incredible part of the world.
Ellen L. Bridge, RN, BS, MTS, Public Health Nursing Consultant

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780911051377
Publisher:	Plain View Press, LLC
Publication date:	08/16/2013
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Joe Niemczura now teaches nursing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He holds nursing degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (BS, 1977) and the University of California at San Francisco (MS, 1981). He has been active with the American Nurses Association, and is a past President of ANA-Maine, where he lived for nearly thirty years. He has never regretted his choice of career. His younger daughter is a teacher, gardener, and poet; the older daughter is a linguist, and traveler. He enjoys living in Honolulu where there are no snakes and it is warm enough to wear slippers year-round. There is a fan page for this book on Facebook.

Table of Contents

Opening Note

Dedication

The Bubble

Making a Map of the Beds

Leaving Honolulu

Hiring My Didi

The Christian Church in Tansen

Celeste

The Cardboard Box

Surgical Ward

Working With Beginner Nursing Students

Padma and the Tuscany of Nepal

If you’ll be my bodyguard, I will be your long lost pal…

Surgery Rounds

Dressing and Looking the Part of a Magar Hill Woman

Rescuing Patients

Maternity and Nativity

Missionary Comings and Goings

The Last Night of the Proms

Sandy’s Report From Mugu

The Messenger of Shiva

The Wizard of Auz

The Mona Lisa of Nepal

Children on Pallets

The Students Buckle Down

An Unexpected Person Outside the ER

Advice From an Aussie

New Uses for Banana Leaves

Fourth of July

Rati Asks for a Favor

Baptism by Fire

The Maoists and the Attack on Tansen

Visitors From Kathmandu

Trip to Pokhara

The Hotel Barahi

In Search of Serenity

Will the Monsoon Ever Arrive?

The Missionary Position and Others

Sanjita Takes a Vacation

Padma Visits Pediatrics

Saying Goodbye to the Students

Leaving Tansen

Boudhanath

The Week in Kathmandu

What I Missed

Return to Honolulu

Wrapping It Up

Acknowledgements

About the Names

Appendix 1: What Would Florence Nightingale Do?

Appendix 2: Within the Walls of the Hospital Compound

Appendix 3: Learning the Nepali Language

Appendix 4: What Is Different About Hospitals In Nepal?

Appendix 5: Nepal Travel Warning

Appendix 6: Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

Bibliography

Glossary of Nepali Terms

Confirmed Birds

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Vicki Ann Moss, DNSc, MS, BSN, RN (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
Description: This book details the experience of Joe Niemczura, a nurse from the United States who volunteered for three months to provide basic medical care to patients in a rural mission hospital in Tansen, Nepal.
Purpose: The purpose was to share with others the day-to-day realities of providing medical care in one of the poorest areas of the world in, as he calls it, The Hospital at the End of the World.
Audience: This would be a very informative and interesting read for nurses and nursing students as well as for other healthcare professionals and laypersons.
Features: The short chapters chronicle his adventure, starting with his departure from his position as a nursing professor in Hawaii to his return three months later. Six appendixes give further information about the Nepali culture and nursing and medical care in that area. Numerous pictures show the mission hospital, colleagues, patients, and other sites from his mission work. A glossary of Nepali terms is very helpful in interpreting some of the information.
Assessment: This is a fascinating discussion of the state of medical care in rural Nepal. The author talks about the lack of modern medical equipment and the grief he experienced at deaths, as well as the joys and the celebration of life that he witnessed. He developed very positive relationships with the nurses, nursing students, doctors, patients, and families, and discovered a lot about himself and his own spirituality. It was very hard to put the book down as I was really drawn into the author's life-changing experience.

Doody's Review Service