Training For Nurses

I've just finished my IV THERAPY Training at the Fabella Hospital. It's been a long and tiresome search for that elusive training. Now, all we have to do is to complete it. Fabella will have 2 IV trainings every month soon. I'm just not sure whether they will start doing that this July. Completion date is a different story. We had to get another schedule to do that. I'm not certain I'd want to go back there for that. It's too far from where I live. Also, a feedback I got from a friend is that when they finally had to complete their cases, on top of their schedule at Fabella they had to have another completion schedule at Amang Rodriguez Hospital in Marikina because most IV insertions were done inside the DR.

Another thing with Fabella is that it is located near the Recto station between LRT 1 and LRT 2. If you know the area, you'd know that there are shanties and squatters there not to mention the road is forever muddy. What we did was to either take a cab or a trike going to and fro.

But the training was ok. They made sure that we knew the basics before they even introduced the skill. Kinda like our NCM lab and lectures. The training room was cold and had the materials we needed. We were given an envelope each which contained the photocopies of the lectures along with a pencil, the green book which will be submitted to the ANSAP, and a notepad. Snacks were served every morning and afternoon. There were 62 of us but the area easily accomodated such a number. The audio was loud enough for you to understand what was being said even when seated at the last row.

The aseptic technique was overemphasized. At one point during the return demo I failed to mention it but had practiced it anyway. I was made to say the step just so it would sink in maybe. Of course I appreciated having been reminded of it but thought that would have been a given since all of us were registered nurses anyway. After I had observed some of my classmates I realized it was needed to be said over and over again.

Oh, we were told that we wouldn't be able to leave without getting pricked. I can still see where it left the mark. Ouch!

Are You Getting What You Pay For From Taxicabs?

Yesterday, I brought my daughter to the Medical City Hospital for her regular check up with her Orthopedic Surgeon. There wasn't any direct transportation from my place to there so we hailed a cab. It was 36 degrees outside and I expected the cab to be cool when we got in. But no. It was about 30 degrees inside. Of course I politely asked for him to put ther airconditioning's temperature lower and make his blower a little stronger. He refused and said that his airconditioning unit would break down should he do so. Because of that, I asked him to let us go down just shortly after.

What's happening to the taxis and other transportation here in Manila these days? I mean you're charged higher because of the premium placed on service for a comfortable ride and they refuse to deliver that to their customers. that particular cab was not the first one. There had been others who do not care whether their clients are already bathing in their own sweat. The fx and buses are the same. There are fx whose airconditioning can hardly be felt and whose seats barely have cushions anymore. Some buses pack in riders so tightly when their airconditioning isn't strong enough to make a few passengers comfortable. The bottomline is that the commuters who pay are the ones who suffer.

The Land Transportation office , the LTFRB together with the Police Force and the MMDA should be able to fix this. Perhaps an ordinance or an administrative order should be made to take care of the poor paying passengers of Metromanila. Give us what is due. We pay for a comfortable ride, and we should be able to get it.

I've just been to hong kong, macau and zhuhai and I can say that one of the reasons their tourism is booming is because of their public transportation. I wish we could have that here too.

The Plight of the New Philippine Nurses

You go through 2 years of general education, work your way to reach internship, spend another 2 years and 3 summers for internship, graduate, review for the board and pass it. That's heaven to most nursing students. But that's not it. After you get registered, you sit at a corner of the house and look for work or maybe spend hours, days, months or even years with the internet trying to get a job. While all the news around you says that nurses are needed in every corner of the world, those same countries ask for so much experience that the new nurses wouldn't naturally help. What's worse is that in your own country, noone wants to take you in either? What are we supposed to do?

Lately, I've read that Canada needs Filipino nurses. Why Filipinos? Because in all those countries that are knowledgeable in the English language, Filipinos are the cheapest labor force they can find. But somewhere in their requirements page they'd need a 1125-hour experience over the last 5 years(although for some provinces this not needed yet). For the US, most states need a 2 year experience. In Singapore, at least 1 year experience. I was told that in Dubai you just have to be a board passer. That is good news for those who would like to consider going there.

The bottomline is that it seems that the Philippines is really going to be drained of the experienced nurses if the same requirements will continue to be observed. I'm sure the government can intervene. Why not just ask those countries to hire the new nurses at a lower rate perhaps? They wouldn't really mind after all the salary should be commensurate to the experience that one has.

Another option is for nurses to be asked for different trainings which they should undergo over and above their diplomas and board ratings? These trainings that the nurses take should account for something right? It is an additional learning for them which makes them go up the ladder of the nursing career path.

I mean if someone needs you, shouldn't you have a say on the negotiation table? A contract is 2 sided - the employer's and the employee's.