SITUATIONS DIFFER | KAIROS GLOBAL | JUNE 2022

Author: Mboowa Ronald speaks

Intro: Mboowa Ronald speaks of how situations in life are never constant. 

Situations of life that we find ourselves in from time to time are never permanently smooth or completely brined in sorrow. They are ever changing. Each one of us can look back on our lives to bitter-sweet memories, or times when we have been helpless.

In 2018, I met with a road accident that left me with a traumatic brain injury and consequently unconscious. It was the goodness of the people who were there, who checked if I was alive and rushed me to the hospital. Suffice to say that I am alive now because of the efforts, prayers and good-heartedness of so many people. 

In my line of work as a nurse attached to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the past five years, I meet a lot of mothers in sorrow about the condition of their babies. Sometimes, no matter what I say to console them, they are inconsolable. In these situations, I will have to bring in another member of the team to assist and help the mother, convince her of what the prognosis could be as per the treatment rendered. 

There are times when a mother’s pain remains with me, even after I come away from work. And that little but sadly ill baby is constantly on my mind. 

I have committed to attend daily Mass to surrender such moments, to fully offload these thoughts to the Lord, upload more grace to be in a position to face more, and to offer comfort to all in our care. Many times the Word of God speaks so deep to me and through it I get the courage to strengthen another with faith, and not just my medical know-how. 

Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17). No matter what I do to the satisfaction of a patient, I know that it is all the Lord’s doing, who hears my prayer. It is this that encourages me to desire experiences where I can see the Lord’s grace and mercy at work. 

Sometimes though, with the stress and strain of the day, or the demands at work, or bad news one after the other, frustration creeps in. Such moments lead me to reflect on what has been done – if it was all appropriate and aimed at saving a life. But if I realise that I could have dealt with a matter in a better way, or if there was a clash of emotions with a patient, I would feel uneasy until I ran to confession, and made up with that patient(s) the next day.

What I have learnt is that today it is the patients in my care, tomorrow it could be me…

Mboowa Ronald is a nurse who works in Uganda.