Andrea Elibero Blog 3

Blog 3

Andrea Elibero

March 16, 2012

Today I was in the private hospital in Chitre. This hospital was quite modern and shared a lot of similarities with US hospitals. I spent half the day in the ICU and half the day in the ER. The patients in the ICU do not get their own rooms, but are divided by curtains. I noticed that they did not use IV pumps very frequently and when I asked about this, the nurse told me that there aren’t many pumps available so only certain medications are put on pumps. Generally, a gravity drip is used. I also learned that the nurses aren’t assigned specific patients, but each nurse takes care of every patient. I was also told that the doctors (and not the nurses) drop NG tubes, insert foley catheters, and do blood draws. The charting is very different. There is no computer charting, instead there is a paper chart and a large piece of paper where the nurses record I&Os, medications, nursing notes, etc. Another interesting thing I noticed is that the physician was emptying the Foleys, recording the I&Os, and checking the vitals. That is something that you would never see in the US, as the doctors here rush in and out of the patient rooms very quickly. I appreciate how much time the nurses and physicians spend with the patients. The biggest negative I noticed was that there is a strict visitation policy in the hospital. The visitors are only allowed one hour a day during a specific time and cannot stay overnight with the patient. I found this unfortunate, as having emotional support is important for the patient’s recovery. On the surface, the ICU seemed similar to the ICU in the US, but when taking a closer look I noticed many differences. I found the patient care to be quite adequate and I wouldn’t hesitate to be a patient in a hospital in Panama. That is something I wasn’t expecting before spending the day in the hospital. I have great respect for the health care professionals in Panama and I believe that the training they receive is better than ours in some ways.