Suzanne's Blog's 1-3

Blog #1--First Impressions of Panama

My first impression of Panama was of all the construction everywhere around me--at the airport, on the road into Panama City with all the new high rises and road construction, and even at the City of Knowledge they were constructing new places for people to stay. It´s very vibrant with much activity and with not many air conditioned buildings, people were outside in the streets talking, playing and laughing.

Going on the tour of the old city was immensely impressionable, and Bianca had a wealth of information to pass along to us about the people who built up Panama City (the first city built on the Pacific coast in Central America per Bianca) along with those who are trying to restore some of the old buildings. I enjoyed seeing the architecture and beauty of the cathedrals that we visited (Augustinian and Jesuit). Going on to the shore line and walking down along the covered walkway where people were selling trinkets and cultural items was also fun, and it was very hard to resist purchasing a lot of beautiful items.

The tour of the Panama Canal was a wonder to behold. It is one of the most incredible feats of modern engineering that I have ever had the opportunity to observe and just knowing that the Panamanian government has already put into play a massive expansion project using newer engineering techniques was very encouraging because it showed that Panama is truly looking at it´s future sustainability as a modern country.

My very first impressions of Chitre´ are very positive. Being from a smaller town, I am enjoying the atmosphere here more than Panama City. I hope that it continues this way.

The clinic that we went to today was extremely busy when we first walked in but everybody was patient and everybody was taken care of in an orderly fashion with no one complaining about the time it took for them to be seen by the doctors, the dentists, the nurses, the pharmacist or anyone. By the time we left, most of the patients had been seen and gone on their way. Our group stayed with an RN in gynecology and obstetrics. She answered a lot of our questions and allowed us to observe a PAP smear of a young pregnant girl and tomorrow she said we should be able to perform some PAP smears if we are able to reach the clinic early in the day.

I look forward to my next days in the clinic.

Blog #2--posted by Valerie for Valerie, Alicia and me
Blog 2: Alicia Francis, Suzanne Prichard and Valerie Englehart

The central plaza of Los Santos is the heart of the city, it is where there festivals are held and families come together to mingle and connect. Several cafes line the area around and the park in the middle has one gazebo that is the focus. Music can be heard at different times of the day, especially on the weekends and any festival, from children playing wind instruments to adults playing percussion and guitars. Political ideals are displayed on signs around the plaza and politicians both nationally and locally come to make sure their campaign is heard. Political offices also touch the square and provide a central sounding board for the members of the city to have their grievances or requests heard. People from several cities come to Los Santos because on the northern end of the square there is a cathedral that is the largest in the area. It was built by the Spanish in the early 1700s to awe native Panamanians with the splendor of Catholicism. Also, there is a huge police station that is the main police station for Los Santos. As for the connection with technology all buildings have electricity and most have air conditioning. There is free Wi-Fi available in the square for those who have laptops or PDAs and for those who do not there are two internet cafes as well. All the buildings have connection to local water and sewer supplies. The restaurants and buildings also have inside kitchens with stoves that are either gas or electric. Ventilation works through fans, AC or both and is usually good. There is minimal trash in the square and on the streets in comparison to Panama City and certain areas of the USA. The trash is collected by a public service every few days. Families come in groups to the square but mostly men of all ages congregate in the city square and gazebo during the weekends and evenings to talk, to play music and to play games. During the daytime, it is also a hangout for local students after school. The buildings are built of block with stucco, the walls are made of cement or paneling and the roofs are made of zinc. As for insects there are several flies, mosquitos and spiders. There are also several stray dogs with ticks and fleas that wander the streets. There are no rats in the city that we have observed. Health education is prominent with posters displayed and flyers available in local restaurants and at the government offices ranging from HIV to HTN to breast feeding. There are no medical clinics within the square itself. We would improve the square by working with the stray dogs by encouraging the ministry of health to remove stray dogs and cats from within the area. Also, we would promote garbage cans that lock down so that the dogs cannot get into and it would also help with the fly situation because most garbage cans are open or old oil barrels. We also could encourage the homeowners to have screen doors and screened windows to tackled part of the fly and mosquito situations in the restaurants. Also, we could encourage the use of insect replants such as bug lights, citronella and fly tape for those that get past the screens. One other safety issue is the uneven sidewalks that encourage people to walk in the streets, if they were repaved and conformed to the local square instead of individual buildings it would be beneficial to preventing sprained ankles and decrease the risk of getting hit by a car.

Blog Three—What would I incorporate into my practice?

Some of the things that I have learned during my clinical experiences in Panama that I would like to incorporate into my work as a nurse would first of all be to remember that each patient under my care for the day is important. Ensuring that his/her needs are seen to in an efficient and honest manner rather than stating that I will return in a moment and not coming back for an hour. I really enjoyed observing the nurses take the time that was needed to make sure that the patients they were caring for each day had the necessary time taken to accurately reflect what was done for them and striving to make sure all areas of care were completed.

I want to remember how very important patient teaching is for most patients. No matter if the patient has heard it in the past, it is still part of my job as a nurse to make sure that if there seems to be a deficit in understanding to provide the necessary education. The nurses I worked with were calm and assertive in their positions and saw educating the patient as part of their job as a nursing professional.

Another item I am taking with me from my experience is a desire to work with volunteer agencies like the Red Cross to provide whatever assistance I can as a nurse. It was so enlightening to visit the local Red Cross office in the town where we stayed, Los Santos, and see how much work the nurse volunteers provided in times of need. I know that when we were receiving our short training while in the U.S. before even coming to Panama, the Tampa Red Cross volunteers and staff were very informative and stirred a desire within me to want to work as a volunteer with an agency such as it.