Study and Work Mesh

I am currently studying Pharmacology for my Nurse Practitioner Masters Degree. Friday I had a patient named Alicia. She was 19 years old and came in because she had a vaginal discharge. As we do with all the females that come in with this complaint, we did a pregnancy and urinalysis test on the unit. It turned out that she was pregnant. Since the nurses don't necessarily follow a patient through the process, I met her when I went in to discharge her. As I gave her the instructions, she said in a sense of desperation "How much does an abortion cost?" I have no idea since I have never had to deal with this so I said "I don't know." She continued to say, "I'm 19 years old. I already have 2 children - the second is only 9 months old. I can't deal with another one. How could this happen to me when I have been on birth control?" I asked her if she had missed the timing on her 3 month birth control shots. She said "No. I have been very faithful." I immediately felt her honesty and her efforts to not get pregnant were very legitimate. (I do not get this sense with many of the young women I have met in the last couple of weeks) And she didn't seem too keen on getting an abortion.

My mind began to analyze the situation. How could she get pregnant while she was on birth control? (Don't get me wrong, birth control is not always 100% effective) I went directly to my recent studies of antibiotics and birth control in my Pharmacology class. One big teaching thing that was clear to me was that some antibiotics could decrease the effectiveness of birth control methods. So I asked her if she had been on antibiotics. She said, "Oh yes, I was treated for a toe infection a little while ago." So I said "Didn't the nurse tell you to use other methods of contraception while you were on the antibiotics?" She said "No." She hadn't read the discharge instructions which clearly instructed her on this with the antibiotic she was taking. My heart reached out to her. She was in a very difficult situation. As she got her coat on, I said "The baby is in Jesus' hands. You will know what to do." She responded with "Have a blessed day." which is commonly used here by African American Christians or those who attend church.

I kicked myself later because I could have prayed with Alicia then and there asking God to show her what to do but I didn't. I prayed for her later that day on my own. I prayed that I would be more sensitive to that tugging in my heart and to be more bold to pray with my patients if they would like it. And I resolved then and there, that I would take a few more seconds to explain the medicines and to remember the things I have been learning in my studies. A few steps forward in my ministry to my patients and to appreciating my studies and to being grateful that I can take the time to care.