Two Years at Sea

So... after bugging Damian for 2 years about writing a "guest blog" he has finally agreed... what a treat!!!!

Two years ago, with 2 sea bags stuffed with a smorgasbord of uniforms and gear, I flew half way around the world away from my newly wedded wife to start my new role as the Ship’s Nurse onboard the only forward deployed nuclear aircraft carrier (USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CVN-73, aka GW) in the Navy.  The first thing you need to know is that I applied for this position and I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to experience this aspect of Military nursing (which few nurses will ever experience in their life).  After several painful hours of traveling around the world, my last leg came to a sudden stop, literally. 

My first experience as the Ship’s Nurse was landing on the flight deck in the back of a C-2 Greyhound (see picture at right) going full speed and coming to a sudden stop in less than 1,092 feet.  Now that may seem like a lot to some people, but I promise you that it isn’t and I was grateful that I was in the back and couldn’t see a thing. Let’s recap, in less than 48 hours I flew from San Diego to the GW, which was trying to out run a typhoon (fun, but extremely exhausted). 

At this point in my military career I had been on only one other military ship; translation I had no idea what to expect or what I was getting myself into.  This might be a good opportunity to describe GW a little bit.  An aircraft carrier is truly a modern marvel.  The GW is 1,092 feet long, 257 feet wide and 244 feet tall and can carry 6,000 sailors.  It is ultimately a huge floating airport where space is not wasted.  There is so much to this ship that even after 2 years I still get lost and discover new areas I didn’t know existed.  Fun Fact: the GW is the 17th busiest airport in the world!

What did I do onboard? Medical is not a big department first off considering we are the only medical facility for 6,000 sailors.   Thankfully we care for a fairly young and healthy population.  We do have the ability to perform emergency surgeries and we do have a 3 bed ICU on top of a 50-bed ward, as well as other services such as Physical Therapy, Laboratory, and Psychology just to name a few.  When I did perform patient care, it was mostly for Post Operative recovery.  Of course we can’t count out the Medical Emergencies around the ship. 

Medical Emergencies ranged from dehydration to falls to physical injuries.  These occurred throughout the day and night (mostly at night of course), which meant we were on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  However, even now I am surprised at how few physical injuries we saw over the past 2 years considering there are so many ways for someone to injure themself on a ship. 

CAPT Lausman (Commanding Officer)

As the sole nurse I had to wear many hats and fill many roles.  This allowed me the opportunity to meet a ton of people outside the Medical Department, get to know them and learn their role on the ship.  Which was extremely helpful when I started studying for my Medical Warfare Device; SWMDO (Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer).  This was a huge accomplishment and a very proud day for me when I earned the ability to wear this device on my uniform.  To earn this device, you are required to gain a general understanding of all the systems in the ship and know how they work and affect one another.  There is so much that you need to learn that it is not uncommon for this process to take over a year. Once I felt ready, I sat in front of a board and got grilled with question after question about the ship.  There is only one way I can describe the process, it is like getting kicked in the teeth several times over.  I look back at everything now and smile, but I know Beth has several emails from me where I probably was ready to cry. 

This has been a challenging assignment for both Beth and I.  We have worked hard to make this tour the best it could be, especially since we are still newlyweds.  Nothing like deploying for 14 months out of a 24-month tour; in a foreign country…shout out to Beth for putting up with this craziness.  The USS GEORGE WASHINGTON has been an amazing experience.  I have met some amazing people, made life long friends and learned more about the Navy than I ever thought possible.  Like everything it is a bittersweet good-bye, but it is time to move on. 

Hope you all enjoyed the guest blog.  See you all stateside!!!