Thai vs. American Healthcare

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Jan 15^th,

Our first full day of shadowing and working in the public hospital here in Chang Mai was very eye-opening. We got a taste of some of the similarities and stark contrasts between their healthcare systems and those in America. A few of the big things that stood out to me is that in Thailand, nurses are responsible for mixing their own IV meds, managing respiratory vents and their settings, and calculating drip titrations. In America, pharmacists mix almost all of the medications, respiratory therapists take primary responsibility for vents, and IV pumps do the job of calculating drip titrations most of the time. Also, the computers do a lot of the work in American hospitals, whereas everything in Nakornping hospital is done by hand.

In addition to being on the trauma unit, I also got to spend some time next-door in their burn unit. None of the hospitals that Messiah does clinical at are burn centers, so it has been a great opportunity to see burns and how they are cared for. We saw one burn (from hot water—one of the biggest causes of burns in Thailand) that was so severe it burned the whole way to the man’s bone. My two classmates and I could see his ligaments and bone.

This evening, we ended the full day of nursing with our professor teaching us two lessons (since, after all, we are technically in school right now).

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