(Thursday) I got picked up at 8 today so got a bit of a lie in haha (: & got driven back to Melville. Where of course mum & dad were waiting for me!!!! Was wicked to see them & have some company .... 3 weeks is definately a long time to spend in a place so far from home on your own! Had so much to tell them was brillant (: Is also pretty strange now I have got so used to being here it feels like home & just feels like they've come to visit like they do when I'm at uni :P haha!!
We went to the Apartheid Museum, which was just WOW! Most of it having happened long before my lifetime, I had not quite realised the full extent to all the problems faced here. They really did have a tough time of it, & it illustrate to me yet again how lucky we really are in the UK to not have had to live through such segregation & violence. Mandela really has been an amazing influence to these people, which was illustrated to me on Monday when it was Nelson Mandela Day. Was brilliant & just so eye opening to see. My favourtie quote from Mandela was:
"To be free is not merely to cast off ones chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others"
& then we had yummy dinner :D off to bed now as have to be up early again! Being picked up at 6:45 to go to a breakfast charity dinner and spend the day in Soweto with the NOAH charity! Looking forward to it (:
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Wards (:
(Wednesday) Today I spent most of my time on the wards. It was soooo interesting to compare to the UK, & to be able to see more problems which are faced in this line of work. The ward is split up into medical & surgical patients. The surgical patients all had bad burns or wounds from the coal. It made me realise even more the importance of their occ health system. The wounds were worse than any I've seen before, & these are seen regularly at the hospital! The medical patients were mostly those with badly controlled hyperglycaemia or hypertension, although there was a stroke patient & a psychotic patient too! It was really interesting to see the nursing care for these patients! They all wore the ACHH pyjamas all day, which I found very strange to see as in the UK we now encourage patients to bring in their own PJs to wear, & encourage those who are able to get dressed to do so during the day. The patients just looked so weird & all the same in their same generic uniform, like an old fashioned institute! They seemed to have no real identity for themselves which I found quite different indeed! I also got a chance to go into the TB ward & see the patients there. Its amazing (: its all negative pressure so the doors only open once the others are shut and so on in order to prevent the spread of disease. All visitors and nurses have to wear masks in to help prevent spread too. Its so posh & modern ... a sharp contarst to the rural areas & government hospitals! I got to join in the Drs round which was wicked too, as I got to listen some more to the diagnosis and treatment of all the patients to gain a better understanding of it all! They don't have many women in the hospital, so if any are admitted the tend to be kept in the side rooms away from the men! Again segregated wards, most of which no longer exist in the UK! Chatting to the nurses was great & they've all been SO friendly & welcoming to me. They love to teach me their knowledge, & love to hear about the UK from me! They still can't believe I'm not cold :P hehe! They were so lovely to me, & made me promise to come back again one day! We will see!!!
Seeing Mummy & Daddy tomorrow (: wwwwooooo!!
Seeing Mummy & Daddy tomorrow (: wwwwooooo!!
Mines, Wards & Occ Health!
(Tuesday) Today has been a pretty mixed day & I've managed to do a bit of everything!! Haha (:
Spent the morning in the mining clinic at Kriel mine with one of the Drs. Tuesday is their chronic day, so there was a lot of patients with problems such as hyperglycaemia & hypertension. The Dr doesn't see too many patients, but spends the time checking the chest X-Rays from the occ health checks. All of the mine employees have to have an occupational health check every year to be approved to do the job they do. They have their eyesight checked, their hearing checked, a chest X-Ray done, urinalysis (to detect drugs too), vital signs checked and see the Dr or nurse. I found the strictness of the whole thing quite interesting, as if they fail their work cards are blocked so they can't get into the mines, making it more necessary for them to make the changes needed in order to pass! The strict rules mean their health is kept in check and keep them fit for work! The X-Rays illustrate any early signs of TB or silicosis, that can be treated so that they aren't spread. The Dr then has to decide if the employee is fit for work or if aspects of their jobs need to be changed. Pregnant women aren't allowed to opperate heavy machines, work below ground or work in high noise so their jobs often need changing once they discover they are pregnant. I got to see what normal CXRs were, and what the signs of TB to look out for where! Old TB also shows up on X-Ray so this needs investigating before the person is signed off.
After we got back to ACHH, I spent a bit of time in the ward with the nurses. Its pretty quiet, as they are trying to steer away from having in-patients in the hospital as obviously its better for everyone if they are out working! The explained the admission process to me (all patients come in via casualty down the corridor before being admitted to the ward) & then I got to help do an ECG! They didn't really understand how I didn't know how to do it....as even their students take bloods and run drips! But it was a good experience to be taught, even though neither of us could read the end result!!!
I then went over to the Occ Health department, to see the process in work! The Dr had said to me its like walking in one door & out the other, although I didn't quite realise to what extent this is true! You literally walk in one door, round all the different rooms having different tests and then go back out the other door :P !! They get realllly busy & can see upto 120 patients a day!! Craaazzzyyy! (: but the process is so interesting, as I can't think of anywhere in the UK that is so thorough at checking their employees health so regularly! They may check as you start work, but certainly don't re-check for any problems yearly! So great to see such an amazing initiative in a less developed country than our own.
Spent the morning in the mining clinic at Kriel mine with one of the Drs. Tuesday is their chronic day, so there was a lot of patients with problems such as hyperglycaemia & hypertension. The Dr doesn't see too many patients, but spends the time checking the chest X-Rays from the occ health checks. All of the mine employees have to have an occupational health check every year to be approved to do the job they do. They have their eyesight checked, their hearing checked, a chest X-Ray done, urinalysis (to detect drugs too), vital signs checked and see the Dr or nurse. I found the strictness of the whole thing quite interesting, as if they fail their work cards are blocked so they can't get into the mines, making it more necessary for them to make the changes needed in order to pass! The strict rules mean their health is kept in check and keep them fit for work! The X-Rays illustrate any early signs of TB or silicosis, that can be treated so that they aren't spread. The Dr then has to decide if the employee is fit for work or if aspects of their jobs need to be changed. Pregnant women aren't allowed to opperate heavy machines, work below ground or work in high noise so their jobs often need changing once they discover they are pregnant. I got to see what normal CXRs were, and what the signs of TB to look out for where! Old TB also shows up on X-Ray so this needs investigating before the person is signed off.
After we got back to ACHH, I spent a bit of time in the ward with the nurses. Its pretty quiet, as they are trying to steer away from having in-patients in the hospital as obviously its better for everyone if they are out working! The explained the admission process to me (all patients come in via casualty down the corridor before being admitted to the ward) & then I got to help do an ECG! They didn't really understand how I didn't know how to do it....as even their students take bloods and run drips! But it was a good experience to be taught, even though neither of us could read the end result!!!
I then went over to the Occ Health department, to see the process in work! The Dr had said to me its like walking in one door & out the other, although I didn't quite realise to what extent this is true! You literally walk in one door, round all the different rooms having different tests and then go back out the other door :P !! They get realllly busy & can see upto 120 patients a day!! Craaazzzyyy! (: but the process is so interesting, as I can't think of anywhere in the UK that is so thorough at checking their employees health so regularly! They may check as you start work, but certainly don't re-check for any problems yearly! So great to see such an amazing initiative in a less developed country than our own.
Oupatients!
(Monday) Nice early start at 6:30 ..... haha! On the way there it was really strange because you literally drive into mines! All you can see is fog & smoke, and the temperature dropped to -2.5!!!!!! It was crazy! The matron who picked me up said that when its really bad it can take up til 10 o clock to get into work! Craazzzyyyy!
After a tour around the hospital, I spent today in the outpatients clinic. It was really interesting to see a clinic that wasn't just HIV treatment, but more general treatment too! There is a lot of patients with hypertension and hyperglycaemia, and all the patients have medical aid from the company, or have their own medical aid. The hospital is so nice & posh as well .... its like the hospitals in the UK! Very modern and nice (: & everyone has been so nice & friendly!! Saw a wide mix of patients which was really good! The nurses get to do loads here, they take bloods and prescribe all the meds needed and make a diagnosis. Was great to spend some time with the nurses :D learnt a bit more about the training here too .... & its just so hugely different to the UK its weird! I guess its more like our older training for our general nurses! They get a bar for their epaulets with each part of the training they complete eg. one for mental health, one for midwifery etc! & they train at different levels (an assistant, a staff nurse or a sister). Tomorrow I am going to go to the mining clinic with the Dr (:
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Witbank!
(Sunday) Got picked up this morning to go to Witbank! Was lovely and sunny on the journey was so hot in the car! Was so strange because everything is just so brown around you! Brown grass, brown trees .... thats winter for you! Was also very strange seeing sudden townships, mostly houses made of corrugated iron sheets. They seem to spring up from nowhere, and then suddenly it is all you can see. There is a lot of disused mine sites here, and the old ones were not properly excavated and looked after when they closed down! Am staying in a lovely Guest House that serves dinner too :D wooo! Looking forward to the hospital tomorrow! (: getting an early start though .... pick up at 6:30 am! :O
Chillax!
(Saturday) Spent the day chillaxxxiinnnggg to the max today! Was lovely :) got to spend some time filling in the family about what I had been up to all last week! Went for a walk for lunch & that was it :D haha! Am off tomorrow to Witbank in the morning getting driven there it takes about 2 hours! Looking forward to it! Getting to spend til Thursday in the coal miners hospital of Anglo American!! :D
Friday, 15 July 2011
Training & an almost real sized plane!
(Friday) Today was training for the staff, so I got the opportunity to compare theirs to ours! Was a good day & was cool to be part of it! Was thorough and all linked to things in the clinic. There was a talk about Wills, which was really interesting particularly as a lot of the patients don't have one when they die, or have not written them properly so they do not get counted! This makes things a lot more difficult. Another session was about TB and how it is spread and the best ways to be protected etc. Was really good & informative, especially as some of the background staff didn't really know the info, unlike the nurses & Drs who have had the training!! We also did a session on what OT is all about, which was brilliant fun. We got to play with playdoh and make things :D hehe! Was really good for the staff as most of them didn't know what OT was, or who to refer. The final session was an open forum for staff to discuss issues about the clinic, and have things explained to them. I thought this was a brilliant idea as it means they're all reading from the same page and ensures any mix-ups are cleared up! We then got a very nice chicken curry & the afternoon was going to be spent doing a mini sports day to end on something fun! All in all a very successful day :D
I then had my lovely flight home, on not such a small plane this time! On the way the plane was about 30 of us, 1 seat aisle then 2 seats (I got the billy 1 seat of course haha) & we didnt need steps we just walked up and in! One air hostess & job done!! Coming back it was 2 seats aisle 3 seats :O haha! Must be a busier time than 6:30am on a Monday :P surprisingly some of the business people I had flown with on Monday were on the same flight home, having probably spent the weekend working!
I have had such an amazing week I cannot begin to explain how life changing and eye opening it has been. This is why I wanted to come to Africa, to see the things I have seen this week & last week. One person may not be able to make a difference, but maybe one person can teach others what life is really like for these people, & then someday perhaps a difference will be made when people begin listening!!
I then had my lovely flight home, on not such a small plane this time! On the way the plane was about 30 of us, 1 seat aisle then 2 seats (I got the billy 1 seat of course haha) & we didnt need steps we just walked up and in! One air hostess & job done!! Coming back it was 2 seats aisle 3 seats :O haha! Must be a busier time than 6:30am on a Monday :P surprisingly some of the business people I had flown with on Monday were on the same flight home, having probably spent the weekend working!
I have had such an amazing week I cannot begin to explain how life changing and eye opening it has been. This is why I wanted to come to Africa, to see the things I have seen this week & last week. One person may not be able to make a difference, but maybe one person can teach others what life is really like for these people, & then someday perhaps a difference will be made when people begin listening!!
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