Flexibility

If there is one thing I have learned in India so far, it is that flexibility is KEY. Almost every day our plans have changed drastically. Our schedules pretty much mean nothing, and time is something completely malleable in this country. If the bus is to arrive at 8:45 am, don't be surprised when it shows up at 9:20 am. Even more, don't worry about your nursing instructors being upset that you are late, for they have changed your plans for the day anyway. No visit to the Naturopathy Centre, instead...drumroll please.....ANOTHER TOUR!! Yay for us, a 3 hour walking tour of PSG Hospital. Don't get me wrong, the hospital was really interesting. It was almost like stepping back in time to an old movie or something. All the machinery was so old, and the nurses even wear uniform Sarees! Everybody takes off their shoes before entering each ward (aka unit) and they put on flip flops if they even wear shoes at all! So, around 11:45 we were told we would go to our clinical postings...until 12:30 when we would leave for lunch. But wait, my group can't go to the Naturopathy Centre rotation today because it's closed. So instead we join the critical care group. First we went to the Pediatric ICU and saw a little boy one day post-op with cholecystitis. He had 3 nurses just for him because they had no other patients! It was crazy to me how their medications are just laying in a drawer because ours are locked up in a Pyxis machine which requires a password and fingerprint scan and even then they're all locked up in individual drawers. After the PICU we visited the Neonatal ICU where they had about 12 babies, some under the Bilirubin lights for Jaundice, some with cardiac anomalies, some just premature or in respiratory distress. They were all so little and only one of their mommies was there! The charge nurse said most of them are kept under mild sedation to calm their nerves. I couldn't help but wonder how many of the neonates were females and if more were males, would more moms be there to visit? When we toured radiology we learned that they refuse to tell parents the sex of their baby because abortions are highly common when parents find out they're having a girl! Anyway, next we visited a stepdown ICU unit and saw a little girl with Dengue Fever, a tropical disease spread in overcrowded areas with a lot of stagnant water in artificial environments such as rubber tires or trash cans. She was in so much pain and her platelet counts were through the roof. There were at least 20 beds all around her with crying children as well. It is possible to get a more private room but patients have to pay more money for that. After our clinical rotations...ending at 1:30 instead of the scheduled 12:30, we took the bus back to the guest house for lunch and we quickly changed clothes and left to go shopping in Coimbatore again. I bought some more India-appropriate clothing and some gifts for friends. Once when the bus was stopped outside a shop two little girls came running up to me and asked me my name. They were so interested in what we were doing and where we were going and where we were from. They were so adorable! I wish I had taken a picture on my phone so I could post it but I only have one on my camera. More to come tomorrow. Hope all is well at home! xoxo