Today is the last day of the 2012 Student Nurses’ Week. Many urged me to leave earlier than the prescribed time. But, I said ‘No’. It is because I was not one of the players of the volleyball match that day and also because there were a lot of patients schedule on this day. I was shocked to see a crowd waiting in front of the IMed clinic’s counter on the ground floor of the Philippine General Hospital.
The thought that this is the second to the last practicum day for this semester made me even want to stay longer. I really enjoy helping the nurses there and seeing those patients who I saw weeks ago. We were like a staff that is in a hurry to finish things to meet a dreaded deadline. When I arrived, Ma’am Elsie immediately gave me the blue cards. She told me, “alam mo naman na.” And so, as usual, I numbered them and looked for the patient’s medical records/charts laid at a bench behind us. When I couldn’t find a record, I look at the blue card again and try to see if there’s a note that it’s on a “hold”. If not, I prepare locators and bundle all those blue cards then send them to the records section.
I stood up for a couple of hours writing, retrieving records, looking for lab results, and among others. Just a few minutes before I left the clinic, there was this woman who went to me and asked why she was not yet called. She even told me that they arrived at 5:30 in the morning. I told her that her mother’s chart/records is not in the counter yet and that we sent the blue card to the records section alongside with other patients’ blue cards. She raised her voice and asked how come the record of her mother was not there and yet they come to see their doctor almost every week
When the records arrived, I came to know that their last check-up was last 2010. And that was just shocking! A woman lied to me. Well, I cannot blame her or anyone because it’s part of the system. Records tend to be sent in the wrong place sometimes, but not all the time.
When we were done, Ma’am Elsie said: “Natapos din ang ka-toxican, ano? Akala mo walang nangyari.” She’s right! We were like very busy for quite some time and then all of a sudden you’ll figure out that you now have time to take a rest. It’s just like studying. Sometimes, I feel guilty doing nothing when I have free time. And so, I once again cleaned the table and arranged the records that were somewhat disoriented.
The program taught me how to easily adjust with people I do not know and it also gave me an overview of how clients behave and interact with nurses.
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