Apathy and Indifference

Today...hmm...was, as Gary put it, a very sobering day. We were supposed to tour Dora Mzynga Public Hospital, but it turns out that they actually wanted it to be like clinical. So they split us up into 2 groups: 8 went to the burn unit while the other 8 went to the maternity unit. Me, Chelsea, and Megan ended up in the male burn unit. It was hard to watch the indifference and lack of empathy the nurses displayed for their patients. They treated them like objects that needed fixing instead of people who needed healing. The doctor and swarm of med students and the nurses left 2 patients shivering uncontrollably after examining them. As they struggled to put on their robes, I took the initiative and put their robes on and made sure they were comfortable. The 3 of us were almost in tears over this horrible care. Later, when more of us toured the male burn unit, the 13-year-old boy getting washed and debrieded was crying and yelling in pain, and what did the nurses do? Yelled at him to be quiet and straighten his legs (which looked painful). All of us had our jaws on the ground...it was so sad. Chelsea got overheated and overwhelmed and had to go sit down, which is totally understandable. We gratefully ate lunch and then headed to labour and delivery while the others went to peds.

The nurse there ignored us and then treated us with disdain, assuming that we knew nothing about OB and judging us for this assumption. After waiting around for a half an hour and hanging out with 2 residents there doing their residency program, we were told a woman was at 10 cm and ready to push. So we watched a birth!!! It was amazing!! The baby spent about 10 seconds with mom before being ushered off to get cleaned up, weighed, etc...and then just left him on a table. When we left 20 minutes later, he still wasn't with mom and she was still laying there...in her bodily fluids...they hadn't cleaned her up! It was appalling! Debbie quick showed us the pre-mees in the NICU and we got out of there! I came back and showered before post-conference w/Gary and Kim. We all vented about the day and then went to Leonardo's for pizza. I'm back now and ready to go to bed...whew.