So I've been here in Saudi for about 3 months and I've been having so much fun I sometimes forget what I came here to do...work. Oh ya that. That's the thing that gets in the way of all the fun, right? Yup! And I didn't come here for the work, I came for the overall experience, which is for sure what I've been getting. I'm also getting excited about traveling here soon, too. They don't let us out of the country for 3 months (they...hmm the hospital? the Saudi government? The Al Saud Family? I don't actually know...I just know I was photographed and fingerprinted at the airport and "they" have my passport). Anyways, I am not focusing here, I'm trying to write about the J O B!
Let's start big. I'm at a tertiary care center which here means everyone is referred to the hospital. It is also a government hospital. But funny thing about the government being run by a royal family, that family also owns the hospital. Hence, they can dictate what happens inside of their home. I hope you can use your imagination as to what exactly that might mean. Much of the nursing care is very similar as the states. However, there is no deescalation of care, I think this is an Islamic belief. Modern medicine can keep people alive for a really long time, do you remember the Terri Schiavo case? So I'm in a Medical ICU. There are several ICUs, the one that would typically take the VIPs is currently under renovation because the king didn't find it up to his standards. So many of these patients end up in the unit I work in. VIPs travel with an entourage, not unlike the show. Private nurses, family physicians, personal sitters, and multiple family members all accompany these patients to the hospital. The hospital's doctors make orders for these patients but sometimes the palace has be contacted in order to get consent on any number of procedures, changes in medication, plans, etc. When I was a kid I always thought I would love the day a princess would call me....now I wish all day for that not to happen! Woah, it sounds a lot weirder now that I'm writing it all down.
Ok so going back to how this is a referral hospital. Most of the patients have multiple problems, cancers, metabolic disorders, and genetic disorders. Many of which I didn't know existed, however these diseases exist at a very high rate in Saudi Arabia. Ah, see the post about dating, there is close genetic mingling. Also being a referral hospital means not just anyone can be accepted. A friend had a boy patient who was giving his kidney to his mother. He was betrothed to a relative. There was a girl that visited him in the hospital, she was pregnant. This was his girlfriend. So while she was visiting she was pale, dizzy, etc and a nurse took her blood pressure, 50/30. Basically this girl was probably miscarrying and bleeding a lot. But the charge nurse got mad at the bedside nurse for taking the BP because they can't do anything for this girl. She had to leave the hospital and go to another hospital or go home. She could not stay, even with the ability to save this girl, she was turned away. On a cultural note, she was an unmarried woman, who was pregnant. The worse case scenario for her would be she would die, either from blood loss or from being the victim of an Honor Killing, which apparently sadly still happens here.
On a lighter note, squat toilets are pretty popular in Saudi Arabia. Gezz I'm actually going to have to take a picture of this thing. But just think of a hole in the floor, that's it. So friends work in a pediatric unit and found a kid using a normal western toilet in the traditional Saudi way. He was standing on the toilet and squatting over it. She really didn't know what to say to this kid except "don't hurt yourself on the way down."
When I was in nursing school I was thinking about working in Saudi Arabia. I had a clinical instructor who was from Afghanistan and when I asked her about what she knew about working in Saudi she said the patients are very needy. I didn't know what that meant at the time. But don't get me wrong I'm not trying to put everyone into one category as everyone is different. I'm generalizing and giving an overview so you can get a idea of how it might be like here. I think growing up with people around you to tend to your every need can create a person who does not understand the concept of the doctor has other patients besides you. On that note, the vast majority of the patients I've come into contact with have been really pleasant.
Oh so when I was a kid my mother used to get my friends all confused claiming we all looked alike and she couldn't keep us straight. Ugh, I'm sure we were very individualistic at 13 right, she just wasn't seeing the subtleties. When I had to go find my patient's sister in the female waiting room I had a flash of this anecdote. A bunch of women shrouded in black veils, the distinguishing feature being a handbag. Nevertheless I didn't find the sister, I think she was in the bathroom.
Let's start big. I'm at a tertiary care center which here means everyone is referred to the hospital. It is also a government hospital. But funny thing about the government being run by a royal family, that family also owns the hospital. Hence, they can dictate what happens inside of their home. I hope you can use your imagination as to what exactly that might mean. Much of the nursing care is very similar as the states. However, there is no deescalation of care, I think this is an Islamic belief. Modern medicine can keep people alive for a really long time, do you remember the Terri Schiavo case? So I'm in a Medical ICU. There are several ICUs, the one that would typically take the VIPs is currently under renovation because the king didn't find it up to his standards. So many of these patients end up in the unit I work in. VIPs travel with an entourage, not unlike the show. Private nurses, family physicians, personal sitters, and multiple family members all accompany these patients to the hospital. The hospital's doctors make orders for these patients but sometimes the palace has be contacted in order to get consent on any number of procedures, changes in medication, plans, etc. When I was a kid I always thought I would love the day a princess would call me....now I wish all day for that not to happen! Woah, it sounds a lot weirder now that I'm writing it all down.
Ok so going back to how this is a referral hospital. Most of the patients have multiple problems, cancers, metabolic disorders, and genetic disorders. Many of which I didn't know existed, however these diseases exist at a very high rate in Saudi Arabia. Ah, see the post about dating, there is close genetic mingling. Also being a referral hospital means not just anyone can be accepted. A friend had a boy patient who was giving his kidney to his mother. He was betrothed to a relative. There was a girl that visited him in the hospital, she was pregnant. This was his girlfriend. So while she was visiting she was pale, dizzy, etc and a nurse took her blood pressure, 50/30. Basically this girl was probably miscarrying and bleeding a lot. But the charge nurse got mad at the bedside nurse for taking the BP because they can't do anything for this girl. She had to leave the hospital and go to another hospital or go home. She could not stay, even with the ability to save this girl, she was turned away. On a cultural note, she was an unmarried woman, who was pregnant. The worse case scenario for her would be she would die, either from blood loss or from being the victim of an Honor Killing, which apparently sadly still happens here.
On a lighter note, squat toilets are pretty popular in Saudi Arabia. Gezz I'm actually going to have to take a picture of this thing. But just think of a hole in the floor, that's it. So friends work in a pediatric unit and found a kid using a normal western toilet in the traditional Saudi way. He was standing on the toilet and squatting over it. She really didn't know what to say to this kid except "don't hurt yourself on the way down."
When I was in nursing school I was thinking about working in Saudi Arabia. I had a clinical instructor who was from Afghanistan and when I asked her about what she knew about working in Saudi she said the patients are very needy. I didn't know what that meant at the time. But don't get me wrong I'm not trying to put everyone into one category as everyone is different. I'm generalizing and giving an overview so you can get a idea of how it might be like here. I think growing up with people around you to tend to your every need can create a person who does not understand the concept of the doctor has other patients besides you. On that note, the vast majority of the patients I've come into contact with have been really pleasant.
Oh so when I was a kid my mother used to get my friends all confused claiming we all looked alike and she couldn't keep us straight. Ugh, I'm sure we were very individualistic at 13 right, she just wasn't seeing the subtleties. When I had to go find my patient's sister in the female waiting room I had a flash of this anecdote. A bunch of women shrouded in black veils, the distinguishing feature being a handbag. Nevertheless I didn't find the sister, I think she was in the bathroom.
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