August 27th, 2017 by jenniferolmstead

I had such a busy day I hardly had time to notice the heat. I woke up early and spent some time reading my bible. Then I got dressed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. I sat and chatted with maam and Deborah for a while. I enjoy her company. She has said she wants to come visits me just so she can sit outside with no people and read her books. I told her I would love to have her come and she can stay as long as she wants. Breakfast was great, one of my favorites here, millet noodles with coconut and sugar. It tastes amazing, is nutritious, and so much fun to eat with your fingers. I am wondering how I am going to adjust back to silverware.
I left right at 8am as I did not want to miss a dressing change. At first, I was more in the way, but I did get to help. I was answering medication questions for student nurses, I started an IV, and was even ordering medications in the computer for patients who were discharging. Oh, and I got to write in the discharge book. It was great to be busy. I was informed of a patient in HDU with an acute MI, heart attack, and made trips to monitor his progress and changes. I found it very interesting how it is managed here. At first, I got annoyed that the nurse did not take it more serious, but that is the way it’s done here.
I was a little late to lunch, as I was actually working. I didn’t feel like fish today so I passed. I just didn’t feel like deboning it with the one hand I was eaten with. The cook has been making the fish rather spicy lately, so all in all I think that was a good decision.
After lunch, it was back to the male ward and more work. I was able to review discharge slips and notify the nurse of those that were ready and those that needed to accomplish something first, like going to pharmacy. This was actually when I learned how to put in orders. It was just great to feel useful today.
I let a few minutes early to prepare for class. It was quite funny. About half the class was late, which is normal in India. Time is all relative here. A few came bouncing in and then froze when they saw me, which brought laughter from the students already in the room. They enjoyed it so much they chose not to warn the other students as they approached. I was tickled by their response. I spoke about anger, verbal abuse, and criticism today as they all tend to run together in a hospital setting. I gave them an assignment to write a good and a bad example of each. They can use examples that contain both as long as they can show me how both are present. I actually hope they do more of these. I let them know that tomorrow they will read them in class and then for each bad option we will discuss a positive response. They are so quite that I believe this assignment has them worried. I wanted to give them something that would help them to apply these to their reality in the hospital setting, but I did not want it to be too time consuming. I’m curious to see what they come up with tomorrow. I did give them a few examples throughout the class.
After the hospital, we met and headed to market. Seems they wanted baggy pants and pineapple. That what we got. I picked up another top as it was just so pretty and I will wear it at home. They have a patriotic one that looks very American, but I didn’t get it. Maybe another day if it’s there. I just couldn’t decide if I’d wear it.
Now we are all relaxing and unwinding. I’m also working on laundry. With four of us and doing it all by hand it takes a while. We use my bag for the smaller loads, but when it gets built up we use the bucket. I think two loads tonight will catch us up.
Oh, we road back in a motor rickshaw. The poor driver made it about `00ft and broke down, we think. He went into a store and they put something from a coke bottle into his engine, which is in the back. And off we went. The best way I can describe a motor rickshaw is to imagine a cab with two rows of bench seats about 3-4 feet wide, total. Now put 3 large bicycle tires under it and an engine that sounds like it belongs in a lawn mower. If we walk three abreast we fill the road and these things are small enough to pass without leaving the road. Daring but fun for a short distance. I wouldn’t trust one for a longer distance, though that is how many get to the hospital, they ride in them for hours sometimes.