Usual activities were done this day. But work was much easier because there were only a few patients scheduled that day.
Today, there was a long break between the first and second batches. I was left on the counter together with Jessica.
Some patients asked me some questions and I tried my best to answer them.
A few minutes later, the area was relatively calm. And so, I decided to clean the table, arrange the records and also the lab results.
The activities I did on the 3rd day of our NSTP Practicum were the same with those given to me the previous weeks. This was not a problem for me because I have now adjusted with their system. I was glad that this time I found patients’ records and charts quite more easily.
A nurse taught me a technique for locating charts that were not arranged systematically. She told me to memorize the last 3 digits of the patient’s case number in his/her blue card so that when I’m looking for record in a pile of records I’ll just look at the last digits. The technique was really a big help!
One thing that I learned this day is to thank people no matter how small the act was. All the nurses expressed their gratitude to me (as well as Jessica) when I left the clinic. They told us that they were lucky to have us every Friday - the day where the most number of patients are scheduled. Again, I’ve proven that small things matter. Sometimes, they even matter the most rather than the big ones.
Perhaps this lesson is but important to note. Nothing will be lost when you express your gratefulness. After all, saying “Thank you” is not a hard thing to do. Is it? J
The 2nd day of NSTP Practicum in the IMed section was again fun. They told me to number the blue cards which were dropped by patients in designated boxes. Three boxes were available that time labeled Renal, Diabetes and Cardio. I helped three nurses in numbering the blue cards. The number system, as I see it, was a move to make the processing of papers easier and faster. But it turned out to be a little useless for some patients whose charts were lost or cannot be found.
I’ve seen a huge number of patients with their families clamoring for an inexpensive health service administered by competent health professionals. This maybe is what PGH is for. It’s the hospital of the Filipinos for the Filipinos.
Patients, if not their relatives, seem to be a little impatient and ‘makulit’. After they’ve asked you twice, they’ll ask you a couple times more. They worry that their doctor might not be able to see them or be stuck in the hospital for hours. I continuously tell them that they must wait for their names to be called. It is good because they were nodding and saying ‘okay’ to agree with me. I’ve not encountered a patient who’s disrespectful enough. I understand what they’re going through. And that’s what I learned on the 2nd day.
As a future nurse, I train myself to communicate with the clients as if I am one of them. I try to put my feet in their shoes. It is in this way, I guess, that I can understand them. Impatient they may seem, but with effective communication skills, no life is hard enough to manage.
We arrived at around 9 o’clock in the morning in the Internal Medicine section of the Philippine General Hospital. Our clinical instructor led us to what seems to me like a reception area where nurses, I suppose, were continuously talking and looking for whatever the patients need before they see their doctor.
I went to join the nurses in what they call ‘special’. At first, I do not know what to do and how to ask what am I going to do that day. They had no time to talk to other people. But, a nurse told me to help them look for laboratory results in a box with partitions labeled with all of the alphabets.
I found it hard to locate some of the results. First, because even though the partitions were labeled with letters some results were still misplaced. Second, because some names were misspelled. Some first names became surnames. But I managed to locate them despite the conditions stated above.
With this experience, I realized that two of the things a nurse must possess must be patience and initiative. Patience for him/her to be able to do work without complains. Patients seem to be impatient and who else would first understand them except nurses? Initiative so that the work that needs to be done but cannot be done by someone assigned will be done by someone else.
With the help of Jessica Rañola, I arranged the laboratory results alphabetically until 11 o’clock came. My first day in IMed was fun especially because it thought me two things vital for my formation in becoming an effective nurse in the future.
Genetics – this is the word that we use to sum up all the things that pertain to our genes. It is the study of heredity and how qualities and characteristics are passed on from one generation to another by means of genes. People normally have different notions of what it is all about. Cultural diversity is one of the reasons why each of us has our own views and opinions on certain topics or issues that we encounter.
Let’s take the Filipinos as a subject to further recognize how culture and society affects our understanding of genetics.
We are already in the 21st century and many of us, if not all, still believe in the existence of mythical creatures and traditional do’s and don’ts we termed as “pamahiin”. These beliefs were in the system of the Filipinos since then which is the reason why we do not accept things in the scientific world as true easily. We have imprinted in our minds things that we consider true and valid because our elders say so and disregard new profound things that lie in front of our tables.
This is proved to be true by the issue on the RH bill which has been a hot debate topic for years. The Philippines was divided into two. One group goes hand in hand to support it while another does everything possible to stop it. This is how it goes with genetics. I suppose all societies have this kind of division and that only about one or two would have a general stand. But this is sometimes not even imaginable.
We cannot really say which culture affects our understanding of genetics. Is it the old culture or the new? Some of us still live in the old one. They are the people who cannot accept new things and stick with what they initially know. The new one that I’m pertaining is the current culture that we have. We are the generation who lives in a culture that clamors for more knowledge. We are drowning in information yet still starved for knowledge. We want knowledge to overflow.
The Philippines itself is culturally diverse. The country is made up of islands making us, its citizens, have different kinds of customs and traditions. Say for example in the Luzon island, we have a lot of provinces subdivided into towns or cities and then barangays and villages. In every town or barangay, for instance, our elders were brought up with ideals that were handed to their parents by their grandparents and great grandparents. These ideals affect our views of things just like genetics. What I’m pointing out here is that our families are primary reasons why we are who we are now. Our families influence the way we think and perceive things. But one family differs from another. A family in the Ilocos region might think that genetics could increase the yield of their tobacco crops while another from Sulu may think it is just a waste of time.
Within the society is the Church. This has greatly influenced the practices and beliefs of societies. I believe this is essential to point out in this paper. When “Dolly the sheep” came out, religions and Churches urged their faithful followers to go against cloning, genetic engineering and anything that alters the natural way of life. Many were made to believe with what the Church said on the issue. This increased the number of those who do not want anything that relates to genetics.
On the other hand, we have other people within the society who are in favor and in support of such things like genetics. Some of our politicians and some private organizations advocate the proliferation of genetics as a possible solution to social and health problems. With their ‘sales talk’, many are called to believe what genetics is in another view.
To sum it all up, when we break down our society we will see different groups that influence our understanding of genetics. Culture also plays a role. What we have in mind since we were born may dictate how we perceive genetics. But, it is all up to us whether we let our society and cultures affect our understanding of genetics or not.
I. The Filipino Child
At present, we have a young generation. Why young? It is because we have more young than old citizens. One of the reasons behind this is perhaps the inability of many Filipinos to resist temptation or sexual urges especially those in the slum areas. But a young generation is not a threat at all. One of those thousands or else millions may possibly turn the current table upside down.
A Filipino child is normally raised in a typical home with a mother and father together with his/her siblings. The development of a Filipino child is the same with any other children in the world no matter what race they are in. What makes a Filipino child different from others depends on the family and his/her environment.
I always believe that who I am now was pre-determined and influenced by my experiences. I grew up in a simple family who is happy even though we only have a can of sardines for lunch. My parents raised me the way their parents raised them.
“A” – this is what they first taught me and also perhaps what all other parents taught their children in the pre-operational stage. I won’t give myself as an example. I’ll set my cousin who is now a Kindergarten pupil. I saw her grow physically, speak her first words and walk her first steps alone.
I was a grade six pupil then when she was born. This baby was different from us and our first degree cousins. She had a curled hair! Then our elders told us the reason why. Our late lolo, who we never met, also had a curled hair. “Wow!”, I said. She inherited a recessive trait.
Weeks passed, she was able to make little/weak sounds and move her head independently. Several months were removed in the calendar and there she is, crawling towards us with a big smile. Eventually, she stood up and started walking.
What amazed me was the way her speaking skills developed. We never talked to her in baby talk. We talk to her the normal way. She ended up speaking to people straightly a little bit earlier than other children.
These developmental stages are observed throughout the world. But what makes my cousin, a Filipino child, unique from others? The answer is simple. She grew up the Filipino way.
They always say that children tend to imitate what their elders do and say. This is true. In my cousin’s case, she began telling bad words which she thought were good. She got those words in their neighborhood. She changed when she started staying in our house every day. We always tell her what the right things to do and to say are. The bad words were eradicated in a short time. This proves that the environment plays a role in one’s development.
A Filipino child is not that different from others when it comes to the cycle of development. It’s the values that were taught to Filipino children in the house, school or neighborhood that distinguishes them from others. Filipino children are taught to be respectful. Parents always tell their children to say ‘po’ or ‘opo’ and to do the ‘pagmamano’ act whenever they meet someone older than them. This value, alongside with the strong love for the family, becomes tattooed to the personality of a Filipino child and will forever be with him until he grows old.
II. THE FILIPINO FAMILY
The Filipino family is normally an extended family. We have our closest relatives like our lolo, lola, tito and tita with us. We also interact with our farthest relatives. Even though we seldom see each other, when somebody needs help the rest of the relatives offers out helping hands. But today, this is not the case for some Filipino families. They’re ready to kill their relatives in exchange of their selfish desires.
There are a lot of innate Filipino values and traits that every Filipino family continuously passes on to the younger generation. One of which is hospitality. Many, if not all, are hospitable. We seldom refuse someone who knocks on our door. We always treat visitors as family members and vice versa. I think the idea that giving a visitor or a stranger a warm welcome is a courteous thing to do is imprinted in our minds.
Our family is an extended family. We have our grandmother and aunt with us. We are very close. We openly share what we feel about certain things like issues that bombard the society almost every day. We exchange stories especially during supper when the family is complete.
We have traditions and customs like any other Filipino families. One of the best occasions that bind the whole family together is Christmas. It is this season that we enjoy the most. Our parents have vacation too like us and that means they have time to bond with us.
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are the two highlights of the long Christmas season for me. It is during these nights that we help one another in accomplishing our long to-do-list. But what’s important is that we are complete and that we enjoy the company of one another.
This is what I think the signature mark of every Filipino family. Take everything that they have and leave them complete. That’ll make them happy no matter what happened. They would simply say, “Ang mahalaga kumpleto tayo”. Truth to tell, we are never at ease unless we are sure that at the end of the day, before we go to bed, our family is complete.
III. COURT & MARRIAGE
In my opinion, the Filipinos are one of the most dedicated and most serious when courting somebody who they wanted to be their partner in life. But the traditional ways of courting are now set aside by boys who find them too primitive or corny in some way. On the other hand, there are still many girls who prefer the traditional way of courting.
One of those ways is singing a serenade or what we locally call “Harana”. I can’t remember my parents telling me that my father serenaded my mother. Maybe he really did not do it. Did he? I have no idea.
As to what my parents and aunt told me, my father did a great job in courting my mother. I think they met in school and it is where their love story began. One night, my father went to my mother’s house a few barangays away from their house. He insisted to visit my mother late at night. The elders were annoyed then. A grandmother opened up a window and threw a pail of water to my father in her disgust. That was heroic for me. I cannot imagine myself in that situation for now. In the end, all the thoughtfulness, care and love that my father showed was in return given back to him by my mother. He was successful. They ended up in marriage.
Marriage in the Philippines is not a trend and not as easy as those in Las Vegas. You need to attend seminars, pay fees and prepare many things to make that one special day worthwhile. However, I’ve come to know that some marriages were done not because the couple really loves one another. It was done because a human’s forming in the woman’s womb already. For us Filipinos, we often have negative connotations on women who have a child and were left hanging on air by the child’s biological father.
My father and mother are almost 21 years married now. They got a strong relationship. My father stands as the primary breadwinner. My mother also works but mainly takes control of the family budget.
There are occasional misunderstandings. In a year, there are only about two or so. These small fights end up at the end of the day. They solve them before going to sleep which is good so that when the next day comes, everything is back to normal.
Marriage for Filipinos is sacred. It is a sacrament that needs to be respected. This is possibly why almost all Filipinos fight for their marriage even when there’s no more hope left.
IV. AGEING
When we speak about ageing two things come into my mind: first, the literal definition of the word ‘ageing’ and second, the idea that somebody who ages matures and sometimes not.
We add up a year in our age during our birthdays. Some would probably base the meaning of the word ‘ageing’ in terms of the number of years they have spent and continuously spend in the span of their mortal life. On one hand, ageing is really about a person who grows old and becomes worn out. We normally think that it is the word which describes a body that is less healthy or efficient.
As an extended family, Filipinos usually live with their ageing parents or grandparents. It has been a custom for us to take care of them when they reach their final years and cannot portray the role they had before. When a person started ageing, he/she starts to become a child once more. This is because he/she goes back to the pre-operational stage not because they do not know but because they are too weak to do them.
What I’ve observed with my grandmother is that she had become a deaf to some degree. She is not a complete deaf. It is just that she cannot hear what were saying sometimes. We need to tell things close enough for her to hear them. Add to that is her sense of sight. She is not entirely blind but I know she cannot see things as clear as I can see them.
I’ve read some books telling its readers that ageing people tend to wake up early. I personally believe in that statement. My grandmother’s room was beside mine and so I can easily hear little noise especially at night. I got annoyed way back in high school for she wakes up as early as 3 in the morning. She opens up the terrace door and fixes her things. This is her routine every single day. As a student, it was not hard for me to understand her.
My grandmother goes to the Church and hears mass every day. I thought it was absurd for an old woman to hear mass so early. There are no means of transportation at this time of the day and the only way for her to arrive at the destination is by walking. I also attend dawn masses when I was in the province. In my astonishment, 90% who attends the mass are ageing people - our lolo’s and lola’s. I suppose they all wake up early like my grandmother and there’s nothing else for them to do but to worship the Lord.
Like infants, people in who are ageing tend to be more susceptible to illnesses than those who are in the adolescent to early adult years. In fact, my grandmother catches disease easily than anyone in the family even though she drinks supplements and other vitamins.
What dictates the role a person who is ageing will portray is his/her state in health. They’re stage is as crucial as to the stage of infants and young children.
Two days, ten months and ninety nine years ago, the Philippines was not much different from what it is now. There were news related to politics, health and festive activities that Filipinos normally do. What differs between the past and the present is the manner of how news or stories were written and published in newspapers. As if the concept of responsible journalism was not yet reiterated then. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we all get to know what our beloved ancestors did and experienced at that certain time which were primary ingredients in molding what and who Filipinos are today.
“ANG DEMOCRACIA”, the official Tagalog publication of the “Nacional Progesista” Party, is one of perhaps the few newspapers circulating the country back then. The headline of the paper on February 5, 1912 is about an American who disguised as a Chinese. Certain officials began to follow all his steps and looked for clues that will reveal his real personality. In the end, it was known that the American was accepting money from illegal lottery owned by a full blooded Chinese. The woman behind the story was a hired investigator of somebody named Mr. Trowbridge.
I was shocked to read an article on the front page about two parties destroying each other. The ligueros were allegedly suspected of telling things against the Partido Nacional Progesista In return, the article in the same newspaper owned by the latter party claimed that what the ligueros are doing is part of their political strategies: to destroy the other party.
An article was also describing how grand the parade that happened the other day which is February 4, 1912. The article states that there were a lot of people who joined the event and in the parade includes the Kings of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It was further noted that a float known as Carroza ng Matrona ng Filipinas stood out. Fifty horses accompanied it and people would clap the said float pass in front of them. Alongside with the parade were carnivals and shows that all Filipinos in the event enjoyed.
In very small fractions, there were news stories about certain personalities who left their job or were promoted that time. But what gave an impact on me was a notice that someone was dead. It stated there in brief form that the man lived in Carolina Street and died of a serious illness.
More happened that time based on the newspaper. There was a news story about a group of people who established a group to see if the medicine for leprosy was giving the expected effects. A head was assigned to lead the study. The purpose of the study is to solve the growing number of people with leprosy which are confined in San Lazaro Hospital. It was said in the article that there were people who were proven to be free from that disease but the hospital insists to confine them. The article asks the readers if what they could infer from this. This article gave me the idea that Filipinos back then were already trying to put their soles in the medical world.
There was a fire incident that happened and some immediately panicked. But it was known afterwards that an open electrical cable just touched a tree near it and that it caused the fire. Everyone was relieved for it was near the stage where performances were being done that day.
Like our newspapers today, the “Ang Democracia” had advertisements scattered in their publication. There were advertisements telling the people that new neckties, handkerchiefs and socks are ready to be sold on a store named “The Novelty Store”. It boasts off that their products cannot be seen from any other stores for it was imported. Some products that were also advertised include shoes, eyeglasses which they call “invisible bi-focals” and sold at 25 Pesos.
“Ang Emulsion ni Scott” was the only medicine advertised. Other advertisements were about the offices of lawyers, information about lending firms and corporations like the Cadwallader – Gibson Co. who makes muebles. Others were written in Spanish and I cannot understand them.
I am happy to see poems mostly below the articles. There were four poems written in Filipino and some of them I believe were long. Parts of the poem are published day by day as for readers to continue patronizing the entire newspaper.
What I can say with the experience of looking back at the past is that it was amazing. I never knew that there is a technology that can put books, journals and newspapers to thin and small microfilms. But more than the unique experience, what remained in my mind is that the newspaper I read is a proof that we progressed in some way and at the same time remained the way our ancestors were.
Same ordinary things happened on that day. News articles were written in a way that the readers would think they’re just listening to somebody sharing a story about happened to him today. I cannot say that some articles were not significant because all of them are important in our study of our own history.
I can competently say that the impact of the Spanish colonization is great. Their practices such as the festival and parade and their language were imprinted in the Filipino culture and somehow remains until today.
Looking back is an important step in understanding how we became who we are now. We can never change what happened either good or bad. But these hundred year old materials serve as instruments for us to appreciate and learn from the past to make the present and the future better, if not the best.
(Histo homework to be submitted on December 7, 2011)
