Hospital!

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January 9th

Today was our first official day in the hospital. I am working on the women's surgical unit, so most of the women are post-op. Most of the cases that the ward sees are appendectomies, thoracotomies, and exploratory abdominal surgeries. I saw many differences between the unit and what we do in America. For example, to dress wounds they use forceps instead of gloves and are then able to reuse the materials. I got to dress an appendectomy wound using forceps and it was very different. I also got to see a chest tube get removed and then placed again in the same woman. This was not super fun to watch because chest tubes are painful and she did not get pain medication until they were actually cutting into her skin. Thai people are extremely stoic and tend not to ask for pain medication, which I thought was a huge difference between our two cultures. In America, pain is considered a vital sign and in Thailand, it is normal to not show any pain even if there are extreme amounts. I also bathed an aggressive woman who was restrained to the bed with bed sheets. The Thai people are very resourceful! After the hospital, we came back to the college where our buddies came over and helped us get ready for dinner. They dressed us up in traditional Thai outfits and did our hair and make up. We went to a restaurant and a show with our nursing preceptors. The place we went to for dinner was delicious. Lots of spicy foods and fruit. And fried banana is actually an appetizer, not a dessert (?) At the end of the night we were invited to join in on the Thai dancing and it is really hard. There are uncomfortable hand positions that my hands will not do. It was a really long day, but super fun!



Ps my ankles are extremely swollen

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