NOT BAD AFTER ALL

It has been two years since I set my feet on this land. Two years of a very challenging job, serving my little patients in a multicultural approach of nursing care.

It's so nice to remember how I tried to cope up with the different type of nursing here in UAE. It's challenging to work in a multicultural setting and in diversified manner. I almost gave up especially during the time that I experienced a verbal abuse from a damn uneducated emirati man, who considered the expatriate health care workers as SLAVES. Being a health care worker I want to deliver the highest level of nursing care to my patients but most of the time I am affected, and even my strategies are affected by the attitude of emirati parents towards their sick children. It seems that they are more concerned on the size and type of room, on how are they going to put their carpets and the food for the FEASTS. Though this is what happening , I am not generalizing the emirate population. I know that there are good parents too.

It is also challenging being a health care worker in a hospital that undergone a lot of changes and still on the process of developing the hospital as one of the best hospital of GCC region. I can say that the Joint Commission International accreditation was one of the best thing that ever happened to this hospital. I am quite happy because it will sound good on my resume but I know the responsibility attached to it. I know that I have to struggle with standards of care. And I know this is a good start. Another thing, as my colleagues are a bit worried about the new documentation strategies because of the CERNER, I am happy that this new documentation came. For sure we need a lot of practice but I know that in the long run we will get used to it and every body will say thank you to the new technology that the Johns Hopkins brought to this institution. Well done Johns Hopkins!

My two years is not bad after all. I am looking forward for another year of nursing in this country and hopefully by the year 2009 I am ready to face the challenges for the American style of nursing.

The Much Awaited Increment

I had a wonderful day ! I cannot believe it! I received a letter from the Human Resource stating that effective 1 January 2007 my salary will be one step higher. At long last! Yehey!

It does not mean that I am already contented with my salary. What I mean is ...finally the administration have considered my efforts....at least for this time.

How about the much awaited 15 % cost of living increment? Well, I will just hope and pray....

New Policy 2

Thanks to God, I am off today. I had 3 Am Shift in a row. Huh ! Sigh... sigh.. sigh. I can consider the past 3 days as one of the "toxic" days of my life. We had 20 patients, under staff and out of 20, 7 patients were operated that day. I have assisted several procedures inside the treatment room.

It has been 2 months since the new visitation policy was implemented. According to the administration it was the first stage of the implementation. It means that the 2nd stage will be implemented soon. I don't know what to say. I am really tired of this new policy. During the first stage of the implementation, there were a lot of arguments I have had experienced especially from the emiratis and very seldom on the expatriates. Several complaints were presented to the administration. It is really true that in every change there will be hesitation and resistance to change. I remember the stages of change, the first stage is the unfreezing. I can say that the new visitation policy is in this point. Hopefully in the near future we will experience the second stage of change which is the change itself , then finally we will come to point of third stage which is the refreezing.

Being a staff nurse, I am proactive to take part on the implementation of the new policy but I always end up frustrated and HYPERTENSIVE. Let me share what happened yesterday.... At About 2p.m. a relative of a patient went to our nurse station and asked for extra bed. This relative is a medical intern working in this hospital. I did my job, so I told her that we will not give an extra bed because only one sitter is allowed to stay with the patient. She was claiming that the sitter is not comfortable with the sofa bed. Few hours after that, I received a phone call from the Nursing Supervisor and asking me about it. Holy cow! Even the Nursing Supervisor was not aware that all the sitters bed were removed several months back and were replaced by a sofa bed. We had an exchange of explanations. Nothing happened. The relative went to the PRO while the Nursing Supervisor asked the opinion of the Assistant Director of Nursing. An emirate PRO agreed to give the extra bed. The Nursing Supervisor phoned me again and told me to bring an extra bed. As a result of this, we blocked the RM 1 ( a sharing room) just to satisfy the whims of this emirati relative. Imagine, 1 bed was blocked only to satisfy the whims of their people. It means that we will not admit a patient in that room because we don't have a bed to use. I cannot rationalize the action of the PRO. What if that bed is the only bed available for admission and there is a sick patient coming to be admitted? That damn PRO! I cannot imagine also an intern working in the same hospital and not aware of the new policy. In the first place she should help us in the implementation of the new policy. F*****g damn shit!

I went inside RM 1 to get a bed and gave it to the sitter in Rm 18, I was surprised to see 6 children inside the room. I called the security and asked him why they allow those children to enter the hospital. The security admitted that he allowed the 6 children to enter to avoid any argument from the emirati adult visitors. As I look at the security man face, I notice that he's scared to the emirati adult visitors. I immediately called my Nurse Manager and endorsed to her the problem. I gave up.

Thanks to God, I am off today. I need a rest. I think I deserve a good massage.