I’m so sad that today was my last day at Centro de Salud de Monagrillo, it went by way too quickly! I had such an awesome experience there, these past few days!! The people I met, the children I interacted with and the lives I impacted have definitely made this trip worth it, already! The nurses were so glad to have us, and taught us so much throughout our visits! We even taught them some English! Today, I was in the pediatric department again, and really enjoyed working with all the kiddos, but that’s nothing new! Ha! I had the opportunity to give over twenty vaccinations today to the children, but seeing them cry is the hardest part, for sure!
This precious girl was only 15 days old!
Yesterday was sorta a miscellaneous day at the clinic for me. I gave many vaccinations to adults, and even did a pap smear on my own.
The clinics are very different here than in the U.S. The clinic is divided into specialty areas such as pediatrics, gynecology, injections, nebulizers, and mammograms. The windows and doors are wide open throughout the day, and at least 50 people congregate in the middle of the building, which serves as their “waiting room.” Today, two dogs wandered into the clinic, but were quickly shooed out by a patient. Also, there is no air conditioning in the main waiting area, so it gets very warm! The nurses, who are in charge of everything, from gathering patient data, preforming exams, administering medication, etc., head the clinic. I only saw two doctors at the clinic while I was there this week, and they were only at the clinic for a few hours of the day! Unfortunately, there is really no such things as gloves here, so all injections and the majority of the procedures are preformed without them.
Overall, this experience has totally strengthened my desire to work with children as my career! I still have tons of areas of nursing to explore though, so we shall see where I end up. I’m super excited to see what the rest of the trip has to bring! Tomorrow, I will be going to Nutre Hogar, which is almost like a daycare for children who are categorized as malnourished. I’m excited to meet all the little ones, who range in age from 1-5 years! Then, next week I will be working in a Panamanian hospital, I expect it to be a totally different environment than what I am used to in the United States. Looking forward to all these upcoming events!
Here are some more pictures from the clinic!
This is the baby scale, I have never seen anything like it before!
XOXO, Jenny
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