Sisa Mausisa

When Nursing and Medical Care Seems so Uncaring

2011-09-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in a hospital where nurses, student nurses, in addition to doctors (residents, junior residents, and senior residents) constantly monitor your vital signs to the point where your vital signs deteriorate or run amuck because of lack of sleep on your part? I have. It was neither a pleasant experience nor one I'd care to repeat.

I won't bother mentioning the hospital's name because it is a hospital with an attached medical and nursing school with a high passing rate in the board exams.

Admitted for high blood pressure problems (my blood pressure was shooting to as high as 180/110), it was quite understandable why monitoring my vital sign was important. The doctors needed to control my blood pressure. This part I totally agree on.

When the first nurse came in to check my vital signs --- blood pressure, pulse rate, heart rate and temperature --- I voluntarily submitted myself. After all, it was all designed for my own good. I'm not sure but that same nurse was supposed to return every four (4) hours to check the same vital signs. I had no problem with that.

After about an hour, two nurse-looking persons came in (different from the first nurse who took my vital signs). They were pleasant and they were smiling. They introduced their names and told me that they were there to check my vital signs. Huh, okay (though in my mind, I began to wonder: I thought the next checking was after four (4) hours?). Oh well, I guess the doctors changed their minds and decided that my vital signs should be checked every hour (?). In addition to checking my vital signs, the two nurse-looking girls (they were, I later found out nursing students doing their practicum) also asked me about my medical history (why I was there,how long have I had blood pressure problems, what were my symptoms, what medications were I taking, who in the family had it, etc.) Again, I wondered, aren't all these in my medical charts already. I was asked the same questions when I was admitted. Oh well, I thought, maybe the hospital was just making sure they got everything correctly.

After the nursing students left, a young doctor came in and also took my vital signs and also asked me questions about my medical history (questions which I felt were already answered by me). After the young doctor, another older doctor came in and did the same. (Don't they have a centralized repository of medical information about me? Why was I answering the same questions?).

This wasn't funny anymore. I was already getting tired. Worse, my blood pressure, despite the medications introduced, wasn't improving. How could it improve? I could barely get enough sleep with medical personnel coming in and out of my room, waking me up with their questions and blood pressure monitoring gauges, among others.

It was starting to become ridiculous (and irritating), especially when the initial medical personnel in charge of my case were replaced by other medical personnel. The endorsement process was a repetition of the entire process. A new nurse, new nursing students, another junior resident, another senior resident. They all did the same ---- monitored my vital signs and asked me questions.

I feel that it doesn't take a doctor to know that a person with a high blood pressure has to rest. I did not get any from that hospital. On the third day (when my blood pressure was starting to go down to 150/100, from one that shuffled between 180/100 to 170/100), I decided to talk to my doctor and told him that I would just rest at home. I told him that it was the hospital itself that was the source of my lack of sleep and irritation which aggravated by blood pressure. Fortunately, my doctor told me that he would leave instructions at the nurses' station for medical personnel not to take my vital signs nor wake me up when I am asleep. On the night these instructions were given by my doctor, I was able to sleep well and lo and behold, the next day, my blood pressure returned to normal (130/100). Later that day, since my blood pressure was already under control, I was recommended for discharge.

Had I not voiced my concerns to my doctor, my blood pressure would have worsened with every attempt by medical personnel to wake me up and monitor my vital signs and ask me questions. It is quite unfortunate that there are some people in the medical profession who miss the point of their existence: they are there to care for the patient. They are not there simply to gather data or information about the patient. They are there to make sure that whatever it is they are doing are for the best interests of their patients. Sadly, they overlooked one important thing I needed to get well: more than monitored blood pressure and vital signs, I sorely needed sleep and rest. They did not care about it. They were like mercenaries minding their own business and mercilessly gathering what they had to. When nursing and medical personnel do this, they become uncaring and they don't have any business in a profession were care and compassion is of paramount importance.

To Work or Not to Work? One Cannot Ask that Question

2011-09-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

In the context of the present economic situation of the country where even those in the middle class feel the pinch of uncertainty in finance and economic status, women cannot afford to ask themselves if they should work or not work. But then again, this fact may stem from a lack of consensus or universal appreciation of housework/homework performed by women. To work or not to work: there is no such option available for women.

Bai Pagodna (not her real name), a married woman, suffered from depression and was forced to give up a high paying job just so that she could have a stress-free life with peace of mind. After she recovered from her depression and became hormonally-balanced, she became pregnant with their second child. Having delivered by c-section, Bai and her husband had to pay an enormous hospital bill using money they had saved for several years. This payment left them asking a question: how do we recoup the savings spent? if another emergency happens in our family, how will we be able to meet it financially?

For Bai, the simple joy of having survived her hospital ordeal and the little bundle of joy in her arms were enough to disregard the questions above. The husband, however, was of a different disposition. He continued to ask: what if another emergency occurred? how would they meet it financially?

The decision for Bai to stop working was a decision that the couple made after due consideration of the effect of Bai's work on her mental health. The couple agreed that Bai was in no mental disposition to handle any form of stress brought about by working in an office and that for Bai to work meant that Bai would expose herself to a possibility of having depression again.

Bai didn't want to work in an office setting again. She was already happy doing what she was doing: being a housewife and a mother to her two children. She enjoyed taking care of the house and of everything that her children and husband needed.

it is quite unfortunate that Bai's husband was of a different position. Thus, despite previous agreements on the matter, the husband made Bai feel that she SHOULD work (and by "work" he meant working in an office setting for an employer who was willing to give her a monthly salary --- obviously, "work" did not carry with it the task of caring for the family members and the home). To boost his position, the husband, being a very good economist, started to argue about the uncertainty of the future. He started to enumerate future expenses that they would have to save up for, like the children's tuition fees for their chosen courses, the need to set up an emergency fund in case such an eventuality did occur, etc.

From all of the husband's arguments, Bai realized that, for practical and economic reasons, she has to work again (whether she wants to or not).

Bai is not the only woman with a similar concern. Unfortunately, housework/homework has no value in a poor country such as ours. Surely, if there was value placed on housework/homework, Bai and her husband would not have even bothered to consider the issue of whether Bai had to work or not (because she was already working in the first place, albeit in the home and in favor solely of her family). If value were placed on Bai's contribution in the home, one would already say that she was already working (and on a full time basis at that).

From the Moment of Conception

2011-08-25T00:16:00.001-07:00

Is an unborn fetus possessed of a personality under the law?

Article 40 of the New Civil Code (NCC) of the Philippines states that "[b]irth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be born later with conditions specified in the following article." The article referred to is Article 41 which states that "[f]or civil purposes, the foetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother's womb. However, if the foetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb."

The Supreme Court of the Philippines has interpreted the above provisions to mean that a conceived child (although yet unborn) is given by law a provisional personality of its own for all purposes favorable to it. Examples of this are the unborn's right to support from its progenitors, right to receive donations subject to Article 742 of the NCC and right to succession under Article 854 of the NCC.

Verily, the aim of the law is to protect life that has already been formed inside the womb of a woman, making sure that its development progresses to full term which will translate to full viability and health upon being born. Once born, the full force and mantle of the law's protection is then made available to the child who is, for all intents and purposes, already a natural person.