Real

“Operation Smile” at the heart of nursing Sharon Soloveoff, RN, CNOR, RNFA

I am a nurse with about 20 years of experience in the OR. I now work as a registered nurse first assis- tant in reconstructive in Southern California. I started volunteering on medical missions in 1996 and have traveled to Honduras, , IHaiti, and the Ukraine. Over the last 9 years, I have been volunteering with Operation Smile and have participated in 18 missions to countries such as Cambodia, Kenya, Jordan, the , Morocco, Colombia, India, China, and Ethiopia. Operation Smile, founded in 1982 by Dr. William Magee and his wife Kathleen, provides reconstructive surgery for indigent children and young adults with cleft lip and cleft palates. For reasons that researchers don’t fully understand, these birth defects are more common in developing countries where surgical repairs are considered an unattainable luxury. Yet, cleft lips and palates not only affect a child’s appear- ance and self-esteem, they often hinder speech and All the precious children we see have a story. One the ability to eat. of my favorites is that of a small Kenyan boy with a cleft lip. He lived with his father and two young A humbling experience cousins. His cousins were both burned in a fire and Working with Operation Smile has been an unending had multiple burn contractures. Upon hearing about lesson in humility. We come from so much and serve the arrival of the Operation Smile team to Nakuru, a population that has very little. They only hope for a the father collected his son and nephews and trav- healthier life. My affiliation with Operation Smile has eled for days by bus and on foot. All three of these taught me to value people. We know we’re blessed young children were selected for surgery, and each and now it’s our privilege to give back. child’s surgery took place on the same day. At the Operation Smile assembles incredible multination- end of the day, when I visited the postop unit, I saw al teams. They’re made up of individuals that love this father sitting with his three boys and he was children, have no underlying agenda, no politics, and beaming. He said, “Look at my boys, my prayers are just there to serve these kids. The friendships that were answered.” Being a part of his joy is one of the are developed are priceless. major rewards of participating in this program. In our plastic surgery office, we have a quote post- The true joy of nursing ed that says, “What we do is not so much to delight It’s staggering to see the number of children that arrive the eye of the beholder, but to buoy the spirits of the at our clinic. There are literally hundreds. Our primary afflicted.” OR procedure is the repair of cleft lips and palates, but we Sharon Soloveoff is a registered nurse first assistant, reconstructive plastic see many severe deformities and syndromes. surgery, Kaiser Permanente, Downey, Calif.

14 OR Nurse2007 January/February www.ORNurseJournal.com