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Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Life in the emergency front
By Therese Y. Manulat
Hers is a profession woven around life’s dramatic moments. Birth, death, accidents, sickness, recovery: a nurse’s work touches on human milestones both happy and sad.
It is a job where much is demanded - - - physically, mentally, spiritually, yet unappreciated by many for its lack of glamour and glitz. Think Florence Nightingale, the English woman of aristocratic background who brought nursing to professional heights. Before her, only the religious and some untrained women bothered to care for the sick.
Nursing history even tells of prostitutes and prisoners tasked to care for the sick long ago in the western world, since no proper “decent” woman would do the job.
That was ages ago, now nursing schools are filled with students eager to learn the rudiments of the job. Tender, loving care - - -this is the battlecry of the job. But as Filipino nurses move in exodus to greener pastures, understaffing has resulted in overworked nurses. Many have succumbed to a cold, grouchy personality.
Sun.Star Life and Leisure, however, came across a government hospital nurse, who despite her huge load of work, exposure to mangled bodies and spirits, has remained calm, pleasant, soothing. Such is 31 year-old Elle Bandalan, emergency room nurse at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical
Center for the past 10 years.
On the nursing professsion...
I began to appreciate nursing only when we were exposed to actual patient care in the hospital. It gave me a sense of fulfillment. My dream before was to be a doctor.
When are you busiest?
We are busy everyday. But it seems there are more patients in the emergency room during payday weekends.
How do you find your work in the emergency room?
Working in the ER is challenging. One acts fast here because patients sometimes arrive simultaneously: stabbing victims, vehicular accidents, heart attack, stroke patients. It is the family or relatives of the patient who sometimes harass us. But I understand them. I wish they would also understand us. We give patients immediate attention but with only two, and recently three nurses on duty per shift and 20 –25 patients admitted per shift, we have our hands really full.
How do you deal with demanding patients or patient’s family members?
I try to explain the situation to them. That we are doing our best to attend to their needs. Many times a drunken relative has to be brought out by the security guard.
What was your most memorable case?
I have had many memorable cases but one stands out in my memory. He was an elementary school boy who was run over by a bus in southern Cebu.
His legs and thighs were so badly mangled, you could even see his pelvic bones. But he was still conscious. He kept on crying, asking for help.
He died on the way to the operating room.
What situations stress you?
Sometimes, when I am on duty at the Pink Room (Women and Child Protection Unit), we have to do counseling for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence. Some are very young. You can’t help but be touched by their cases.
How do you prepare yourself for the job?
I pray. Before, I used to get apprehensive whenever I went to the hospital for duty. Prayer helps me handle the different situations. It gives me strength. My involvement with the Marian Apostolate of Sanctity and Success (Mass) also helps me.
Will you join the exodus of nurses abroad?
(She smiles) Maybe.
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