Casa de Nazareth

This morning I was assigned to a clinical at Casa de Nazareth which is a day center for los ancianos (senior citizens).  The woman in charge of the center was very happy to see us and put us to work right away!  We made our way around the entire place getting to know everyone and recording their blood pressures (Ellen and I have become experts at taking manual BPs over the past two weeks.)  All but maybe two of los ancianos had presiónes altas  – the high score of the day was 230/110! (Es muy peligroso. A healthy blood pressure should be below 120/80.)  I used this opportunity to to some teaching with los ancianos about hypertension and any other health concerns, any medications they were taking, healthy diet, the benefits of exercise, and the dangers of high BP.  To follow up with this, Ellen and I did hand massages to help with stress reduction – many of the people told us how they had pena (suffering) both physical and emotional, but were so thankful that we had come to visit them.  Unexpectedly, I also had to do some wound care!  The director of the house came running for me because the cook had sliced her finger with a knife!  Luckily we were able to stop the bleeding and bandage her up with some antibiotic cream and a Disney princess bandaid. :)  To end our morning, we danced with many of the people to get them up and moving around!  They all really got a kick out of my dancing and started calling me la bailarina.  It was sad to say goodbye because I had such a wonderful time getting to know the people – learning about how they were feeling emotionally and physically and hearing stories about their past and their families.  I hope that I have the chance to return to Casa de Nazareth very soon!

She wanted a picture with us after she was all bandaged up. :)

Taking blood pressures.

Hand massages.

¡Bailamos!

Before lunch, my group for the aggregate project took a trip over to Casa de Maria for a tour with a lawyer from the parish.  Casa de Maria is both a transition home for young women who are working or in school and a shelter for abused women abused and their children. It was nice to finally see the home and meet some of the women that live there, so that we could start to think about possible nursing diagnoses and interventions for this aggregate. I found it funny when one of the girls at the house asked us very innocently why our hair wasn’t black.  We simply told her that our parents were to blame. :)

In the afternoon Ellen and I were at the hospice again.  We were assigned to similar tasks as in previous days – position changes, personal hygiene, passive ROM exercises, tracheostomy care, NG-tube feedings, etc.  I however did finally meet Manuel, a patient at the hospital, today!  I hadn’t had him as a patient until today but have heard stories from the other girls about him throwing things, yelling, and refusing to have his vitals taken.  I guess I was lucky to have caught him in a good mood, but Manuel not only let me take his BP, temp, pulse, and respirations, but we had a nice conversation ending with him singing for Ellen and I. :)  To end the day with a bang, I also had the opportunity to put in an nasogastric tube for the first time!

El gatito at the hospice. I almost stepped on this little guy!

Contenta,

<3 Lisa