A Volunteer’s Voice: Amy Nylund, RN, NP

Today is my last day volunteering at the Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope (SHCH), and I can't believe it's gone by so fast! It's hard saying goodbye to these incredible nurses and this remarkable Hospital.

The most profound experience I had here was supporting the OR nurses during a leg amputation. We had a patient come into the ED with an aggressive leg wound. He had very advanced diabetes – I don't think he even knew that he was diabetic until he came into SHCH, actually – and the wound was so infected that they had to amputate it that same day. So we took him to the OR and got him prepped for surgery.

What really surprised me was that they didn't give him general anesthesia, just a spinal block, so he was fully awake for the entire procedure. He couldn't feel anything, but he could hear his leg getting sawed off and could smell the cautery device.

If I were awake for that, I would probably faint or have a panic attack. But this man kept perfectly calm. He spent most of the time asking the nurses questions. Obviously, it was in Khmer, so I didn't understand everything, but the nurses and doctors were so reassuring in their tone, so relaxed and attentive. And then I think about everything the staff themselves have been through, all of their own trauma in the past 40 years, and it's even more incredible.

Afterward, the staff transported his amputated leg to the local pagoda to be cremated. That so touches me – the patient had an opportunity to grieve and find closure after an amputation through the cremation ceremony.

That's the perfect way to explain my time here – surrounded by resilient patients, compassionate staff, and incredible culture. My Cambodian nursing license is still valid for another year, so I'll do my best to return. There's so much work to be done for these patients, but luckily they have the SHCH team to look after them!