Perioperative nursing on the Amazon River. An experience that made a difference.

We held a conference at the end of the team's visit. We concluded that there was a continuum of learning in both directions from both countries. Some of the problems and frustrations in medicine are the same worldwide. Leaving the US medical system to work in a remote area is a fascinating and exciting experience. Clean water, electricity, transportation, and food are not taken for granted in this area of the world. The next decade in an area like this holds many different plans, hopes, and projects. Nothing can be taken for granted. All that has been developed could be lost tomorrow. What we do makes a difference, whether it is in the jungles of Brazil or an OR in the United States. To see the health of the general population so markedly improved from our previous visit emphasized that point. Your skills as an OR nurse can be translated to other countries. An instrument may have a different name, but the use is the same. Operating room nursing on the Amazon River is the same, and it is different. You can and do make a difference to your patients each day. We found that the difference is less subtle in an area that has so little.