Hospital Gustavo, 3/15/12

Today, I went to the newest hospital in Chitre, Hospital Dr. Gustavo Nelson Collado Rios. The construction of the hospital was completed in November. It was very similar to our American hospitals, with a few exceptions. First, men and women patients were separated to opposite sides of the hall. Second, patients did not have individual rooms. Instead, about 6-8 patients were housed in one large room.
At the beginning of the day, I was in the ICU, which had 6 beds. Again, it was very similar to American ICUs, with the exception of lack of private rooms. Also, there are no HIPAA laws in Panama, so patients' charts were in full view, and it is acceptable to take pictures of the patients there. Another difference was in Panama, nurses are in charge of patients' ventilators. In the United States, respiratory therapists monitor them. The nurses told us that in Panama City, there are respiratory therapists, but because Chitre is small, they do not have this specialty.
For the second part of the day, I was in the ER, where I administered a tetanus shot and started a vaccine. In the ER, nurses work 6-hour shifts, which is very different from our 12-hour shifts in the U.S. All of the doctors and nurses were very friendly, despite the language barrier. The hospital was a great experience.