Her 30-plus assignments aboard the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital have taken her to 15 countries around the world such as India, Bangladesh and Zambia. The nurses she has trained will have helped to save the sight of thousands of people in some of the most remote parts of the world.
Although the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is not travelling, our mission remains in flight. All Flying Eye Hospital training is now delivered virtually and Ann-Marie’s virtual nursing training saw nurses from low-to-middle income countries, such as a team in Peru, learn about the use of PPE in ophthalmology theatres and how to best manage the psychological effects of COVID-19.
Reflecting on how the pandemic took everyone by surprise and the psychological impact it had on her and colleagues, Ann-Marie says: “What I have learned is we were all frightened, and it's alright to be frightened because this is so real and it's something we had never experienced before.” She adds, “Any emotion, any doubt, any fear that you had was quite normal. What the training revealed is speak to somebody as another person will have the same problem, the same issues.”