Within minutes we were headed for the clinic to bring a little boy who had cut his leg open to the hospital for stitches. This little guy's dorm parent, Sam, decided to join me. We took off on the adventure to make it to the city, get seen at the hospital, make sure nothing was broken, get some stitches, and then navigate our way home! Somehow we worked the system upon arrival at the hospital. Usually if you just need stitches you have to be seen in the adult emergency room. Well, I didn't know this. So since everyone in the pediatric emergency room knows me these days (that's how often I've been there lately), we walked write in and were seen. The doctor wrote of us to go over to the adult side, get stitches, an x-ray, and then make our way back. At this point poor little Salamao has blood pouring down his leg and pooling in his shoe. We had done our best to dress the wound, but it was just too big and all the walking around the hospital was not helping the situation.
I decide we'll just jump in the car and drive around to the adult side. We do just that, get an x-ray quite quickly, and then find the treatment room where we are to get stitches. Too bad there was no one there. We wait a few minutes and I knock again...still no answer. We wait some more, looking a bit lost I'm sure, and finally a guy comes up and asks what we need. He finds the person we are looking for.
Only one person can go in with Salamao...by default it's me, the nurse. Sam patiently waits outside. Salamao is asked to sit up on this exam table. He is already looking at me with big puppy dog eyes not sure what will happen next. To be honest, I wasn't sure either. You can never be sure how they will decide to do things. This night was no different. They start with the lidocaine and I'm relieved for the little guy but we still have to make it through the injections before he'll be pain free. I am literally laying on top of Salamao (a quite strong 8 year old). He is crying; I want to cry; the doctor is yelling at him and me. Ridiculous I tell you! Then, Salamao jerks his leg. I look down just in time to see the tip of the needle come shooting out the side of his leg, lidocaine go flying across the room, and then...the doctor gives up. She says, if you can't hold still I'm just going to stitch you up. SERIOUSLY?!
So she starts...and with each of the 7 stitches Salamao is crying, I'm holding with all my might, and the doctor is saying, "It doesn't hurt." Absolutely ridiculous!And for all you medical people out there, the doctor started this procedure with sterile gloves on. She then used her gloved hands to pull up her VERY dirty apron several times as it sliped off her shoulders, then she would go back to working. Thank you so much for putting on sterile gloves and then putting your dirty apron germs in pour Salamao's open leg. Makes sense right?! Absolutely brilliant!
Next came our adventure to get Salamao a tetanus shot. As if the boy wasn't traumatized enough he now had to get one of the most painful shots there is. Of course he was crying before he saw the needle. The nurse couldn't understand why I couldn't control a strong 8 year old. And,f I was observantly looking around the room wondering how the ministry of health could close our clean well stocked clinic but leave open their largest teaching hospital in such conditions. I'll never understand this country.
Anyway, after me working the system one more time, we finally walked out. We had to go see a doctor first to read the x-ray. He really wanted Salamao to come back for an orthopedic consult but I smiled and nodded and said we'd go back to the pediatric emergency room to be discharged. Did we?? Of course not! I walked little sleepy Salamao out to car and drove him home!
weren't you paying attention when i explained the gloves and aprons were protection for THEM not getting all dirty and germy NOT for their patients and keeping them free from all the gross infections that are being carried around on the apron that they keep wiping their bloody hands on?? duh? That's why they wash their hands WITH the gloves on and then wipe them on the apron before moving on to the next kid. makes PERFECT sense.
ReplyDeleteI was paying attention...the point is this time they took the time to put on sterile gloves...opened a new package and everything. But after adorning the gloves they still wiped their hands on the DISGUSTING apron! I guess that is one step in the right direction at least. I have certainly seen them wash their hands with their gloves on, but not recently! Moving forward?? I'm not sure!
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