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I am assigned at the 4th floor geriatry department of Heilig Hart ziekenhuis where there are more or less 50 permanent residents. The age probably ranges from mid - late 50's to late 80's or early 90's? There was a little tour guide of the whole 4th floor, getting to know the people working in that department and so forth.
The moment my teacher left, I directly jumped on the floor and started working. The staff were kind and patient enough to show me what I have to do. I washed a patient together with another student from another class in a Parker bathtub. It's a bathtub designed to meet the needs of patients with limited mobility. I doubt you'll see this kind of tub at hospitals in the Philippines. Anyhow, washing a patient in reality is not the same as what the book says. The book says wear hand gloves when in contact with feaces or any body fluid (i.e: blood, genital fluids, etc.,) but when you start washing a patient or even drying them, it doesn't matter if stool is present. Your immediate reaction would be... do your job as efficient as possible in a much shorter time because you know that your patient is not able to stand any longer and will not wait for you until you will find any hand gloves! You will just start wiping with a piece of cloth on your barehands.
I love the patiënts. I knew that this is what I would love to do. To be with people who appreciates my work even if the next day they won't remember my name or what I did the day before. What matters is that at the end of the day I will feel fulfilled to have known that in my own little way, I have made someone happy and made someone's day a little better if not much.
Since I've never done anything like this before, even if I had a crash course on caregiving in the Philippines, the technic and the materials/instruments that they use here is far too advanced that I don't even know how to use a napkin! I tore a diaper apart thinking I had to pull it so much to get it around the patient. I also learned how I should prepare a sandwich for patient and what is important is that I have to let the patient sit straight when they are having their breakfast on bed! And to not forget that most of the patients have dentures, hence it is impossible to chew solid food without it! If there's an elderly who swears or curse you, I have learned to not take it seriously instead be patient and don't run away from the patient! It's not his/her fault that she/he have dimentia.
More... I feel accepted by the people in the department. There's no feeling of being looked down or feeling of being different. I'm always scared that people will look down at me because I am different. I am glad.
The moment my teacher left, I directly jumped on the floor and started working. The staff were kind and patient enough to show me what I have to do. I washed a patient together with another student from another class in a Parker bathtub. It's a bathtub designed to meet the needs of patients with limited mobility. I doubt you'll see this kind of tub at hospitals in the Philippines. Anyhow, washing a patient in reality is not the same as what the book says. The book says wear hand gloves when in contact with feaces or any body fluid (i.e: blood, genital fluids, etc.,) but when you start washing a patient or even drying them, it doesn't matter if stool is present. Your immediate reaction would be... do your job as efficient as possible in a much shorter time because you know that your patient is not able to stand any longer and will not wait for you until you will find any hand gloves! You will just start wiping with a piece of cloth on your barehands.
I love the patiënts. I knew that this is what I would love to do. To be with people who appreciates my work even if the next day they won't remember my name or what I did the day before. What matters is that at the end of the day I will feel fulfilled to have known that in my own little way, I have made someone happy and made someone's day a little better if not much.
Since I've never done anything like this before, even if I had a crash course on caregiving in the Philippines, the technic and the materials/instruments that they use here is far too advanced that I don't even know how to use a napkin! I tore a diaper apart thinking I had to pull it so much to get it around the patient. I also learned how I should prepare a sandwich for patient and what is important is that I have to let the patient sit straight when they are having their breakfast on bed! And to not forget that most of the patients have dentures, hence it is impossible to chew solid food without it! If there's an elderly who swears or curse you, I have learned to not take it seriously instead be patient and don't run away from the patient! It's not his/her fault that she/he have dimentia.
More... I feel accepted by the people in the department. There's no feeling of being looked down or feeling of being different. I'm always scared that people will look down at me because I am different. I am glad.
1 comment:
abi nako mag-injection na ka og start taman sa ginhawa. ahehehheh.. pwede ka picture picture diha sa hospital?? toink.. graduhan pud mo then ang mga patients maoy mo rate ninyo??? weeee
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