Monthly Archives: August 2021

It’s been such a different trip than usual—even though we are going to many of the same places and completing the same activities, it is just different.  Not in a bad way though! 

Tuesday found us driving back toward Rapid City but this time for some sightseeing and cultural activities.  We went to Custer and were able to drive the loop and catch the burros just before the end of the loop.  I love the burros!  We came prepared with the healthy burro snack of carrots (instead of a past year’s unhealthy burro snack of Cheez-Its).  There were new precious baby burros that added to the excitement.  The park was especially crowded—it seems that everybody is at Sturgis this year.  After Custer, it was on to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  The memorial has daily presentations that I thought were only pow wow dancers.  I was anxious to get the students to a presentation since it would be their only opportunity to see regalia and dancing in person.  After hurrying to Crazy Horse, we arrived to find that the presentation was a flute player instead.  No disappointment though (not allowed)—the flute player was outstanding, and we were able to hear ‘Amazing Grace’ played on this special instrument.  Crazy Horse was even more packed than Custer so we did not stay long.  After depriving the students of a real lunch with my hurrying to Crazy Horse, we had a nice, sit-down dinner at the Colonial House in Rapid City.  That certainly did the trick to end the day.

Wednesday was our last day on the rez.  We started out with a guided tour of Red Cloud Indian School.  I’ve been to Red Cloud so many times but never actually toured the whole school/grounds.  This visit helped to fill in some of the gaps related to history and culture of the Lakota—with no pow wow and not being able to visit the OLC Historical Center, I do feel that the students are missing some important information.  Again, we’re doing the best we can with what is available.  Anyway, the chapel was beautiful and peaceful as always, and I climbed the hill to spend some time at Red Cloud’s grave for the first time.  We ended the tour in the Heritage Center and met a recent grad from the OLC Nursing program that I tried to give a brief pep talk to about NCLEX.  You never know when you will need to bust out a pep talk!

After Red Cloud, it was on to the OLC Nursing Department for a visit with Michelle.  Since I last visited, the program has received accreditation for the first time in their history.  With only four faculty members (one of which serves as acting director of the program), I can only imagine the long hours and hard work put into this achievement.  We compared notes about how COVID-19 has impacted the program and their experiences, and it sounds like they have had to adjust to the Zoom way of doing things for lecture as well.  They will be in-person this Fall though.  The most exciting part of this visit was seeing the new simulation manikins in their sim center.  They have two new manikins—an elderly patient and an infant.  The manikins are made by Lifecast, a company that has done manikins for some Star Wars movies.  These manikins were SO life-like compared to the usual; we spent quite a bit of time oohing and aahing over them!  

Our last event of the day was a tour of the IHS Clinic in Kyle, led by our alum extraordinaire, Suzie.  The students got to see it all, meet other providers, get words of wisdom about nursing, and hear all about nursing in this very unique setting.  Suzie is so obviously a leader, with clear dedication to patients and outstanding nursing skills—very proud to see her thriving and making a difference. 

Driving home tomorrow—straight through this time.  Ready to go home but not ready?  How is it that time passes so quickly here? 

Even with my absolute worst fear for the trip occurring on Sunday–a student getting injured–we are back to business as usual. Honestly, I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened before now–10 years injury-free is a pretty good record.

Monday was one of the most anticipated activities of the trip (which is the same as previous years)-horseback riding. Rosie spent extra time making sure that each student was paired up with a horse that was a good fit as far as personality. Barkha started on Goldie; Bree rode Coon Tail; Rebecca rode Little Big Horse (a Mustang); Kelsey started with Thunder; and Victoria rode a horse with a Lakota name that I cannot remember at this point. I had the pleasure of serving as Rosie’s assistant during the pre-ride activities, which consisted of grooming; walking the horse on a lead; sitting on the horse bareback; and doing some ‘horse yoga’. Victoria ended up changing horses to Black Diamond, and Barkha and Kelsey ended up trading their horses so that everyone ended up with the best fit. After a ride out into the plains, the students returned exhilarated and tired and wishing that they could ride a second time on a different day.

Even though I don’t ride myself, I always enjoy this activity as well. Even though there is nothing at all related to health promotion, there are many lessons to be learned. I like to see the students’ excitement and their approach to riding–some are experienced and confident; some are slightly hesitant; while others are outwardly scared and anxious. Sometimes the anxiety is too much to overcome, but this doesn’t occur often. I like to do what I can to encourage those who are the least experienced with the most anxiety to work past this so that they can have the experience of a lifetime. I find myself getting into my teacher-mode, offering positive reinforcement, encouragement, suggestions, and advice. On their end, the more anxious students are encouraged to approach this activity like they would having to perform a new skill on an actual patient for the first time during their nursing care–projecting confidence and calm and believing in their own ability. Without this, the horse–just like the patient–would sense anxiety, stress, and fear and react with the same. With a mixture of experience levels, all of the students built rapport with their horses, stayed calm, and had the best possible outcome–a good ride.

While this day in the sun was exhausting, it feels strange not to drive anywhere so of course, we hit the road. We went by the OLC Historical Center and Bookstore, but unfortunately, both remain closed due to COVID. We instead drove out to Sheep Mountain for a quick look and then hit the Common Cents in Sharps Corner.

Going into the convenience store seemed to provoke more anxiety than horseback riding. The students voiced their discomfort at being a minority–the only white people in the store. This provided an opportunity for discussion on the way back to Rosie’s. This discomfort is something that I hope that they remember for a long time to come, especially when they begin their professional nursing careers. I hope that when they remember this that they are able to more fully empathize with their culturally diverse patients who might be experiencing a similar discomfort. With this empathy, I also hope that they can promote safe care to bridge what often seems like a cultural gap between nurse and patient.

Saturday was our day for screenings.  Rosie very kindly offered to host us at the trading post and put out an announcement on the store’s Facebook page that we would be offering screenings while taking all of the required COVID-19 precautions.  We set up next to the store and planned to give out school supplies with screenings.  While certainly not the same volume of screenings as at the pow wow or the Indian relays, we did have a steady trickle with some breaks in between.  We were able to share results with a few previous screening participants that showed improvement in cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.  We also met some great people, and the students did a great job as usual.  It is great to be back doing this, even if it is on a much smaller scale.  We will take what we can get and be happy about it!

After a siesta, we decided to try to catch the sunset at Red Shirt Table.  The sunset is a vivid orange from the wildfire smoke so it is particularly beautiful this year.  We made it in plenty of time, and the students spent some time at the edge of the overlook taking in the most sweeping view of the Badlands and of course, taking A LOT of photos.  I decided to walk down after talking to Jim on the phone, and stood at the edge breathing it all in, looking, and listening.  To my surprise, I was able to hear the distant drum beat from a family’s sundance ceremony.  Wow!  This is always a favorite spot on the reservation—for the students as well. 

Sunday dawned bright and early for one student and myself.  I woke up at 5:30am to a persistent knock on my cabin door.  After fumbling with the door in my sleep clouded state, I found that a student had cut her foot.  She had gotten up to go to the bathroom and snagged her sock on a carpet nail, slicing her foot open and peeling back the skin for a nasty looking, three-inch long wound.  After talking to her about the first aid kit and getting fully awake, I made the decision to take her to Rapid City to urgent care.  I didn’t think that they would be able to stitch it because of how the skin was torn, but did feel that it needed to be assessed and evaluated beyond our basic first aid kit.  We left at approximately 6:30am and made it to Rapid just as the urgent care had opened (and after hitting a bird on the way—this will come up again later!).  She was seen very quickly and in was in and out of the urgent care within 30-40 minutes.  She was initially told that she wouldn’t need stitches, but after further assessment, she ended up with 4 stitches and a tetanus shot.  Not a great start to her Sunday, but she handled it like a champ and has been a trooper throughout.  We picked up a few more supplies, some caffeine for me, and headed back to the rez.  At the checkpoint to come back on to the rez, one of the border guards kept pointing to the front of the Suburban.  I couldn’t figure out what this was about until the other guard came to the window and said, “You know you have a bird in your grill, right?” and then proceeded to pluck it out barehanded and throw it in the weeds.  No, I didn’t know, and we drove around Rapid with said dead bird in the grill.  After profuse thanks to the border guards for taking care of this issue for us, we made it back to the trading post without any further excitement.

Our plan for this day was our beading lesson from Jessica. The other students had just started when we returned. This group really enjoyed and got into the beading more so than any other group that I have brought. Jessica is a great teacher—patient and kind in her approach. The students ended up beading for most of the day with several finishing 2 or 3 bracelets. One student even purchased supplies so that she could continue to bead after the trip. This day of quiet focus was exactly what was needed after the hectic morning. Our evening activity included a visit to the Wounded Knee Massacre site. We spent some time in the cemetery in quiet reflection as a visit is supposed to be. The wind is always blowing here and with that comes a sense of troubled, restless energy—this is a spot where terrible things happened that should never be forgotten.

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Where to begin for this trip?  Well, we’re already 4 days in and I haven’t blogged at all so that should give an indication.  I’ll try to catch things up…

I have not made a trip to Pine Ridge with students since August of 2019.  The pandemic changed so many things for so many people, and this holds true for Pine Ridge also.  The reservation was ‘locked down’ for an extended period of time and border checkpoints were added to keep non-essential visitors away to decrease the risk of COVID-19 spread.  This action helped the tribe to mitigate the effects of the pandemic considerably; however, the Lakota have still experienced their share illness and death from COVID.  As the summer began, the tribe began to allow volunteer groups back to the reservation with certain stipulations—all members of the group must be fully vaccinated; a safety plan must be developed and provided to the OST Public Health Authority; and the group must receive permission from the tribal president.  As soon as this word was received in May, I began to plan the trip.  Just as all of the students in the group to travel completed their vaccinations, the Delta variant showed up on the reservation.  Also, the tribe–concerned about the low vaccination rate (around 23%) and risk to the children who are unable to be vaccinated—postponed the pow wow.  Even with these events, we received permission from the tribal president to make our visit.  I do know how lucky we are to make this trip!

I have tried to keep expectations low and my anxiety at bay—quite difficult to do this at times!  On Wednesday, August 4, we began our drive to Pine Ridge with 4 of the 5 members of the student group.  We arrived in Porcupine on Thursday, 8/5.  With the Lakota Prairie Motel closed for use as COVID quarantine, we were lucky to be able to stay at Singing Horse Trading Post in the trailer and a cabin. So excited to see our friends there!  After unloading and settling in just a bit, we drove on to Rapid City to pick up our last student from the airport and then move on to the requisite and unfortunate Mount Rushmore visit.  I stayed in the SUV as usual while the students voiced their thoughts—“I thought that it was bigger” or “I thought that it would be closer”.  With that out of the way, it was on to Walmart for our food and supply shopping.  As a fun activity, alums Suzie and Alexander met us and helped me shop (because at this point in my fatigue, I need my own support team).  Thank goodness!  One thing that I already appreciate about this group is that they are easy to please nutrition-wise.  Don’t judge, but we got McDonalds from the drive thru and ate on the way back to Singing Horse. 

With a planned later start to allow for catching up on sleep, Friday began with a trip to Badlands National Park.  I have said it before and I will say it again, I never tire of this place, but I especially enjoy seeing the students’ reactions to it for the first time.  We drove the loop and were blessed with being able to see ALL of the animals except for mountain goats.  Lots of excitement over prairie dogs and baby bighorn sheep and LOTS of stopping for pictures!  A storm rolled in just as we were getting our Indian Taco dinner at Cedar Pass Lodge, but it had moved on by the time we were ready to make the drive back.