Final Clinic Placement and Farewell for UQ Nurses

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Willow Durrington

Monday and Tuesday were the last days of clinical placement, with the different groups rotating to their last clinic site. Things continued as usual with us settling into our respective clinics and schools and continuing to use our assessment skills. At Ang Chagn (also nicknamed the baby clinic!) group two almost got a baby, despite staying back after hours and returning in the morning the woman unfortunately was still in labor and had to be transfered to the hospital for further care – but did successful give birth to a beautiful baby!

Wednesday became a shopping and packing day. We split into three groups – one group set off to the markets with the list of supplies needed for the military clinic community, another set off to a gas store to buy an autoclave while the rest of us remained at Jasmine Lodge organising our supplies/donations for the three clinics, schools and military community. On Thursday morning we set off to the Military clinic community where we distributed the supplies needed at different house holds – it felt pretty good being able to give back to the community, especially knowing that the equipment was needed! After lunch we set off to Ang Chagn, Svey Chek and Krabei Riel to drop off our donations and say goodbye.

On Friday morning we were given a ceremony at the military clinic to thank us for our time and work. The military staff also presented us all with a Krama (aka scarf). After the ceremony we traveled to the military school where we participated in some Chinese New Year festivities such as removing the petals of Lotus flowers. A traditional band had also been organised to play for us but unfortunately were running on Khmer time and were going to arrive to late for us to stay around and wait. Friday afternoon was designated Quiz Time – Lindy had organised a quiz for us complete with prizes. It was an extremely fun afternoon with points being given for not only correct answers but also the funniest ones. Team Handwashing (Group Two) were the quiz masters each winning a Blue Pumpkin Ice Cream voucher.

Saturday was our last full day in Cambodia and we didn’t intend to waste it! Lisa W set off on a tour of the temples as she had been sick the previous weekend. The rest of us did some final exploring, shopping and of course many people got massages, manicures and pedicures while they were still cheap! Mia, Lindy and Lucy decided to splash out and get pampered at the Bodia Spa for a few hours. Saturday night we got dressed up for our farewell dinner at Raja, with Davvy, the clinic staff and translators. On the whole it was a wonderful night, filled with thank you presentations, memory sharing and some sad goodbyes to all the wonderful people we had met and would never forget. On Sunday morning we set off to the Siem Reap International Airport to start our journey home.

Our first flight to Singapore went off without a hitch and we spent our five and a half hour stop over indulging in fast food, resting and exploring the butterfly garden while Lindy, Amy and Carolyn booked themselves into the Singapore lounge of some relaxation time. Our flight from Singapore to Brisbane was rather eventful, after finally setting off there was an altercation between a passenger and steward which provided some in flight entertainment and after that Lindy had to show some of her nursing skills when there was a medical emergency with no doctors on board.

Fortunately we all made it safely to Brisbane where we said our goodbyes, collected our luggage and were welcomed by our family and friends.