Today was our first official day in the clinics here in Nicaragua and we definitely learned to live in the gray! We all were up and at 'em this am and the excitement was palpable. Keep on reading to learn more about each clinic and what they were up to today!
Los Pipitos/Morales School
Our group stayed in Nindiri at Los Pipitos today as Morales School had meetings today. Both of these locations are pediatric locations: Los Pipitos is a foundation to give free services to children with special needs. The main Los Pipitos clinic is in the capital of Managua but we will be at the location in Nindiri working to update it and the treatment options as best as we can; including the new paint job and installation of a vestibular swing to use with patient. Morales School is in Managua and is a school for children with special needs that currently has a full time occupational therapist. We will be working to help create PT based treatments and help improve mobility and gross motor skills with the children.
Aldo Chavarria
Aldo Chavarria is an inpatient rehab hospital in Managua, Nicaragua. Our group is working with patients with a variety of conditions ranging from all levels of amputations, traumatic brain injury, strokes, spinal cord injuries, and other neurological insults. Our mission is to evaluate current treatment approaches relative to advanced gait training, and bring new treatment options to the practitioners.
Nindiri Clinic
We were pleasantly surprised to be working in pediatrics this morning! We had the opportunity to work with children diagnosed with hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, microcephaly (due to the mother having Zika virus while pregnant) and spina bifida. It was amazing to see how grateful the parents were for us to work with their children, and us as students were challenged to utilize primative reflexes and developmental sequencing positions such as quadraped, tall kneeling, and side sitting to accomplish individual goals for each child. All in all, it was a great first day filled with challenges as well as successes. We are excited to continue to work with mostly outpatient orthopedic patients with some pediatrics as well. We will also be moving the clinic into the brand new facility that they have been building and preparing!
Casa San Antonio
Our team is excited to work with the residents of Casa San Antonio and their caregivers. We are focusing our energy on further improving the quality of care through more effective interventions and a streamlined documentation system. Special consideration is being given to educating caregivers on proper transfer techniques, exercise prescription and progressions as well as general medical screening.
Inpatient and Outpatient Clinic
We were surprised this morning to find out that we would not be able to go to the inpatient or outpatient facilities we had planned on going to. But this is what being flexible is all about! We spent the day finishing building the mat tables we will be bringing to the new Nindiri clinic. We also built a cart and began building parallel bars to help with gait training in clinics. Tomorrow we will help move the Nindiri clinic to its new location. And then for the rest of the trip we will hopefully be going to one of our other locations to work in outpatient facilities to continue to serve!
Overall we had an amazing first day in clinic and finally got our boots to the ground to start helping the community around us here in Nicaragua. Thank you again for your support and we are excited to report more back tomorrow!