Alexa Blog 2 and 3

Blog 2

3/14/2012
Today we went to the elementary school in Las Minas. It was an early start time and a long drive there, but what an experience!!! The school was located in a mountainous area and the children walked long distances to get there. As we were driving down the road we saw children as young as five walking on their own to get to school and it struck me as such a sharp contrast to the United States where we don’t even let children walk two blocks to get to the bus stop! Our group did a game where we talked about good vs. bad choices in life and how to make good decisions. In order to teach the kids, we had a big game board and the children rolled two dice and jumped along the game board whatever number spaces they rolled. Then they told us whether the picture they landed on represented a good choice or a bad one. Back in the United States the game seemed perfect and very appropriate…after all, seat belts are always good and hamburgers and French fries are always bad. However, when we got there it was clear many of the children had never seen a seat belt or a bicycle helmet in their lives. And who were we to tell a child who might only receive a glass of sugar water for dinner at night that a hamburger (source of protein) was bad for them? The reality was very different then we could have imagined. 
The school was a little surprised when we showed up that day as apparently the letter confirming we were coming had never arrived. In spite of this, after we got done teaching they provided an amazing lunch for all of us. It was humbling to have people who had nothing, share what little food they had with us. We take so many things for granted in our own lives, that to see this little town where people still get their water from a pond, and a hole in the ground with a seat over it is considered a nice bathroom was a good reminder of how blessed we really are. 
After Las Minas we got the chance to go to a beach near Chitré to hang out for the afternoon/evening. It was a nice chance to be able to relax and let loose a little as a group. The beach was beautiful and hanging out together gave us a good chance to bond a little more cohesively as a group and to get to know each other on a more personal level.
-Alexa Ann McIntyre

Blog 3

3/19/2012
Our trip is officially over and we are back home. The final two days in Chitré we spent at the new Social Security hospital and at the Psychiatric Institution. The hospital was an awesome experience since we were able to spend some time in the Emergency department (my favorite place!). One thing which really stuck out to me about the emergency department was how many IVs they did there. In the Panamanian healthcare system, people don’t feel as though they have been “treated” if they are given pills and sent home, so many times they are treated with IV medications or injections as opposed to prescriptions. For this reason, it was an awesome place to practice my IV placement skills! 
The Psychiatric hospital was a unique experience as well. Although I work on the wing of a psych hospital in the United States, this was more of an institution rather than a hospital, so it was a very different experience. Many of these people had lived at the hospital for 20+ years and would probably never return to life outside of the walls of this institution. The hospital received little support and funding from the government and was in desperate need of supplies and manpower. The nurse on duty explained to us that many times there was only one nurse for 50+ psych patients, and that in the evenings they may not have a nurse at all since they had limited staff. Some of the patients were nude, since their conditions made it difficult to keep clothes on them. The patients were very low functioning for the most part, so many of the activities we had prepared needed to be revised in order to make them  suitable for the patients. 
However, the stories of the patients from this institution will forever stay with me. There was one patient who was mute, and she had been in the hospital for over 30 years. Everyone called her “La Muda” (the mute). Two years ago, one of the nurses realized she needed a name, so they baptized her and gave her the name “Marionetta”. Because that nurse cared, she has a name now! Another patient was the daughter of a high ranking government official, she was high functioning and could have lived outside of the institution with minimal family support; but the family didn’t want her, so she remains in the hospital. Other patient’s whole faces would light up when you paid attention to them or interacted with them, and you realized how desperately these people needed to be loved. That day, I felt like I made a difference… it was a good day.
Looking back at the time I spent in Panama, it was such an amazing experience! I saw people who had so little, but were willing to give so much to others. I learned that while technology is nice, there are other ways of providing medical care that are just as good. I perfected skills such as breaking ampoules, giving deep muscle injections and calculating drop factors. I was exposed to new experiences, such as giving Pap exams, that I never would have had experience with in the United States. And finally, through this trip I developed friendships with other students in the program which will be lifelong friendships because of these shared experiences. This was, hands down, the best experience I have had in my nursing program!
Alexa Ann McIntyre