Hospital El Vigia, 3/15/2012

We were at the Hospital El Vigia, Chitre on March 15, 2012 and were able to be in the ER and intensive care unit from 7am to 2pm. I was very surprised when I got to the hospital because hospital was only 16 months old and most equipment was the newest version we can find in the States. I found some differences between hospitals in Panama and hospitals in the United States. First of all, in the States, we are no longer using saline water with suction because of the risk of infection, but Panama nurses still use saline water to suction the trach. Second, nurses do not have assigned patients and everyone takes care of all patients. Third, charting was very simple and it was only one paper. They do not chart for routine cares. Lastly, it was very hard to find nurses wearing gloves during patients care. Even when they were dealing with blood, they do not use the gloves. Overall, all nurses were very friendly and they were willing to give us as many opportunities possible.