Shishur Sevay

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1. LinZi
   Jul 06, 2011 @ 21:02:41

   Reading this and your older blog about reusing needles etc brings up a lot of strong feelings for me too!

   I’m now a nursing student in the U.S., but having lived and worked in India, I have many different experiences– and it is very hard to find a doctor who spends the time and effort to really help! The last time I was there, I had learned. My fiance (an Indian) asked around and we found a doctor who sounded to have good “reviews” from people we knew. I also went prepared– I carefully listed my medications, and also my allergies (since in the past no Indian doctor has ever asked me for either before prescribing medications!) and also made it clear that I knew what should be done! She was the first doctor in India to take my BP/temp/HR and she also actually did a lab test (though she asked me if I really wanted to do it, and I said yes). If it weren’t for my insistence, though, I would have been put on antibiotics without knowing what would work best (I was anyways, but it was switched with the results of the test– as it should be!). Though she was definitely the best I had in India to date, her office was quite tiny– without a bathroom (I had to sneak into a restaurant across the street to give her my sample for the lab!)

   Yet she explained what was wrong and what the medications were for. Since my fiance is Indian, I expect to live in India for at least some time in the future– and I always wonder if the medical facilities will be ok.

   Last time I was in India, I was able to visit a Nursing school in Delhi and also a clinic run by the nurses and students a bit outside the city. I had heard good things about the clinic from my Professor here in the U.S. and was hopeful to see a good health clinic in action! Sadly, it was not as my Professor had seen some years earlier– with nursing instructors fighting in front of patients– patients being given medication without even looking at the patient or listening to what they had to say (knowing Hindi gave me a unique perspective that I would not have had earlier on– and they couldn’t hide anything from me. One girl came saying her toes hurt. Without further questioning they gave her a fungal cream and sent her out. She came back a few minutes later and said “I don’t think this will work.” The nurses looked vaguely perplexed. The girl then told them her toes hurt because she burnt them by sitting too close to a fire (it was winter). The took the fungal cream from her hand, glanced at her burnt toes, and gave her some bacitracin instead. I was surprised that they had not even bothered to look at her toes in the first place. others would say “kugli” (itchy) and get a antifungal– if someone said they were tired, they would be given a couple of weeks of vitamins or iron (depending on a whim, I think). If someone had pain they were given a cream. A kid came in with a swollen stomach and was automatically given an anti-parasite– which makes sense– only the adult informed the nurses that the child was 4 and the child was obviously the size of 1 year old (though walking and talking). The nurses seemed unconcerned about the size of the child, shrugging it off– the parent probably doesn’t have the age right.)

   One of my dreams for later on is to start a public health clinic that is good quality. I feel like a lot of the care that could be better in India doesn’t necessarily cost more money– just more time.More money would help too! But care can be organized, patients can be properly assessed– records can be kept– child can be identified for growth problems.

   It would be nice to create a network of doctors, nurses, clinics, hospitals that work well– like this one you visited.

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