Hay nako, the reality is, konti pa yung 1 is to 50 na ratio ng nurse to patient sa mga hospitals dito sa 'pinas. Sometimes, on certain days aabot pa yun ng 80+

Just finished my 3-day duty sa JBL Provincial Hospital and the reality of health care here in our country still has me reeling from dismay. Our NOD was the only nurse in the Ortho Ward. He was in charge of 51 patients on the 1st day, nadagdagan pa the next two days. I don't know how he does it, how he manages to have time to see to the care of 50+ patient. From what I saw, he spends around 5 or so minutes per patient, wherein he checks the chart, asks how they're feeling, gives the meds and documents what he did. Most of the caring comes from the "bantay" who stays with the patient around the clock.

There are around 6 patients sharing a room, minsan pag wala ng available bed sa mga rooms naiiwan sa corridors yung pasyente. Nakahiga siya sa bed, dinadaan-daanan ng lahat. One ward, nicknamed Scuttari, had a patient with femure fracture lying next to one who's post-op mastectomy and next to them is one with TB. Halu-halo... gawds, imagine the infection...

Nakakapagod. To think I was put in charge of one patient lang for the entire day and pagod na pagod na ako. I really can't imagine what it would be like if I had to be in charge of 50+.

Pero even if that's the case, sa end of the 1st day of duty nung paalis na ko, my patient (a 68 year old grandmother) held my hand and thanked me and parang nawala yung pagod ko when I looked at her face at that moment. Made me want to learn more so I'd know how to properly care for people I'll be in charge of in the future.

This experience really put things in perspective sakin coz I've realized yet again how god darned lucky I am compared to others, and the little care I can give to ease their pain is really so easy to give if I only gave enough time and effort to do it.