So we have written about our daily routine. For any nurses reading, you may think that our working day is not too indifferent to nursing back home in the UK...this couldn't be further from the truth!!!
We certainly never expected things to be easy working in a developing country, but at times we become so frustrated its untrue!!! Tasks that in the United Kingdom would be extremely straight forward and simple, can be incredibly time consuming here in Uganda. Blood tests are a fine example of this. Acquiring the correct sample bottle can often involve visiting every department in the hospital...only to return to the first place you visited, where the staff suddenly 'discover' they had what you needed from the outset!!!! Needles and syringes are like gold dust so locating them can take time. Then you arrive at the laboratory to find it is locked! If you are lucky, the results may eventually arrive the next day!
The processing of blood tests is often money dependant. Tests we take for granted in a developed world, like renal function tests, must be paid for by the patient or their family. No funds = no test. Can you imagine this?
Medications are also often subject to patients self funding the drugs they require. The hospital has a basic supply of drugs. Above and beyond this, the patient must pay for medications from a pharmacy in town. Again, no money = no drugs...I'm sure you can imagine what this means for the patients ultimate outcome.
Supplies of basic necessities frequently run out, grinding work to a halt. A prime example is gloves. With the main presentation being HIV and AIDS you can appreciate that no one is prepared to take the risk with bodily fluids. The radiology department is only just operating again after running out of X-ray film for nearly two weeks. TB is a huge problem here and so being without specimen containers for a week proved problematic.
A RAY OF LIGHT....
Despite our many frustrations, there is a ray of hope!!! A new medical and surgical ward have been built, and yesterday the surgical patients began to move into their new premises!!! This has been such a long time coming and is such a boost to the hospital, the staff, and the patients!
The medical ward is at present, temporarily housed in the paediatric unit, so the sound of children constantly crying is deafening! The male and female areas are separated by the nutritional ward. Passing through this area each day is heartbreaking - seeing so many malnourished children. One child I saw last week, about 2years old, was so weak he couldn't hold the weight of his own body. His mother was trying to get him to stand but his legs kept buckling. Unbelievably sad.
The medical ward where we are working is yet unable to move as the bathroom facilities remain incomplete but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel! Unfortunately a new ward does not mean new furniture, so all the old decrepit beds will be going with us...if they don't fall apart when moved! Watch this space!!!!
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