Clincal Experiences!

Before going to the clinical sites in Panama I really didn’t know what to expect. I was not sure how up to date their equipment or techniques would be in comparison to Morton Plant (which is the hospital I do clincals at right now). I thought they would be a little behind in all aspects of care judging from the house and neighborhoods I had seen before we headed to our first day.

The first week I was at CSS clinic. It was quite an eye opener because I noticed that no one really spoke English. Right away I felt overwhelmed because I could not really communicate with the nurses I was placed with. Aside from the language barrier I saw that many of the procedures are similar to what I am used to at Morton Plant. There are some differences, nurses here perform PAP’s and when giving IM injections they don’t use the “Z-track” method but instead pinch the muscle. Something I was not expecting was the lack of glove use. Nurses in Panama don’t use gloves while giving injections or starting IV’s (something that is seriously different than back home).

The second hospital I was at was the older hospital/psychiatric hospital in Los Santos. I was very interested in the psychiatric hospital and was sure it would be very behind the times. It was almost exactly how I imagined the psychiatric hospital to be however I am always shocked when places don’t have A/C. It was sad to see how underprivileged the hospital was.

The final hospital I visited was a CSS hospital. I was able to see the ICU and ER while there. This hospital was similar to hospitals back home except patients don’t really have private rooms. Nurses also don’t use gloves while giving injections or starting IVs. The ICU nurses have to change scrubs before touching the patients. I thought this was a strange way to prevent infection considering they don’t use gloves. However other techniques I observed were relatively parallel to techniques at Morton plant. I enjoyed my time at this hospital and wish I had had the opportunity to do more while there. 

Overall I feel that seeing these different types of facilities in Panama was a great experience and will help me when I return to my hospital for clincials.