Oh The Places You'll Go....: Time & Tasks

We had a rude awakening this morning, Beth and I. Apparently I don't know how to set the alarm clock in our hotel and we woke up 5 minutes after we should have been in the car to go. Muy Mal.

Didn't get a shower - a little gross in the humidity. Didn't get the delicious hotel breakfast that is freely provided every morning - disappointing, but an orange sufficed. Didn't remember my spanish/english dictionary - at least I had people to translate everything for me.

We went to 3 hospitals today. 4 hours of scheduled touring turned into 7 hours of touring, but I really didn't mind.

I have learned that Time varies throughout the world. Yes it is the same everywhere, but people treat the allotment of time very different. Just like home, Ecuadorians have been on time here. What I have noticed is the gracious amount of time given to us as visitors at the hospitals we saw. The nurse administrators or directors of the whole hospital spent time showing us their work. I was really impressed by how welcoming the people were. Unlike Beth and I who were Not on time this morning to leave :)

The first hospital was Vernaza, a local community hospital here in Guayaquil. It doesn't receive the funding that the state hospital receives so the nursing is very short staffed. These women on the floor can have between 30-38 patients. That means they can give meds. That's it. No time for anything else. We saw the ICU as well as a little class of nursing students who were learning above everything. The middle section of the hospital was an open court that was beautifully landscaped including a water fountain. I'm sure the patients like to be able to get out there and enjoy the sunlight. They had very similar equipment to home that I've seen so far, but we weren't actually working with anything.

Biggest difference in all the hospitals is no separation of rooms. Not even in the ICU - unless they were on isolation. As a nurse, at least you can visually see all the patients at once. But I think it would be difficult as a patient - no privacy. But you can make friends with those around you.

The second was a children's hospital. This was the nicest place - it was very similar to Primary Children's (minus the private rooms). The children were adorable. Nurses were very welcoming. They had separate areas based on diagnosis and age range. This hospital has been funded by people worldwide, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They take good care of the children there. But there are A LOT that go through the clinic there - we were told around 900-1000 kids on one side of the hospital who come in for things such as the common cold. The children's hospital serves the whole country of Ecuador, so people will travel far to get there.

The final hospital was maternity which is located in a poorer area of the city. A large crowd of people were waiting outside the emergency pull in. Mostly fathers. I will be able to describe this hospital with more detail when I get there, but it was VERY different from home. The women all labor in the same room. Unless they are at a higher risk, such as anemia. Or if they have enough money to pay for a private room - they even get their infants in a different area after delivery if this is the case. The most shocking was all the women postpartum who had infections in the same room. They don't even give antibiotics. Rest, ice it, and send them home. At least the infection doesn't become systemic in their case.

The NICU did not have enough nurses, and note even enough bili beds for the infants. So many are born premature - they were so tiny crying in their little boxes. The people love their children so much and care about their health - but the majority of the women just don't get prenatal care. Many don't have the education. I will go to work there in two weeks.

Ecuador is very family oriented.

I had a delicious rice and bean meal for late lunch. Con Pollo

Ice cream for dinner. Very melty, but very yummy.

Here is my Iguana from yesterday.