Thursday, June 9, 2011

Adios Panamá

My experience at the hospital Jose Domingo de Obaldia was wonderful. It was my first time working with kids in the hospital, and as much as I loved it it broke my heart to see so many children in pain! One little 2 year old in particular caught my attention. He had no family because he was abandoned so he lived at the hospital, and he was mentally retarded and had a pulmonary infection and only weighed 16 pounds. It took almost an hour to feed him his lunch but I enjoyed taking the time to do it. Unfortunately it is common in Panama for babies to be abandoned at the hospital. I also saw a bone marrow aspiration in the hospital on an 8 year old boy, and that's when I knew for sure I couldn't do pediatrics because I just couldn't handle seeing him in pain! One thing that really amazed me at the hospital was how little they used gloves. The nurses would start IVs without wearing gloves and blood would spill on them. It was also interesting to see all their paperwork and how they pass their meds without the use of a computer system. All of their patients' meds were on little index cards and categorized by what time they were given. The nurse I was with said she had 60-80 patients, I can't even imagine! I get overwhelmed when my preceptor has four! These nurses are sincerely hard workers and I admire them for taking responsibility for so many patients!

I have had such an amazing three weeks and I am so thankful for this unique experience :)

1 comment:

  1. Wow, Brooke, that's some serious pediatric unit experience. I know what you mean but I would bet you'd be a very good pedi nurse if you ever did make that choice.

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