Leah's Nursing Observation at San Ignacio Hospital

Leah observing at San Ignacio Hospital
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

I’ve spent the past two weeks at the San Ignacio Hospital with Laura G. For the first week I was in the Outpatient Department with Nurse Sheila and Reyna where I gave out patient numbers, took vitals, and helped with dressing wounds. While there I witnessed a biopsy on a Rasta man’s foot, the removal of an ingrown toenail, and the lancing of an abscess on a patient’s chin that squirted it’s contents about four feet. I also bought a sweet vase from a Guatemalan man that was selling his merchandise on the hospital’s veranda.

I spent the second week at the Maternity Ward where I was lucky enough to watch two deliveries. The first baby was a little boy weighing 7 pound and 3 ounces. The second was a little girl weighing 5 pounds and 9 ounces. I was permitted to sit with the mothers and time their contractions before they gave birth. I also took their vitals and listened to the babies’ hearts beating. After they gave birth, I took the mothers to the recovery room and then watched as the nurses bathed, measured, and weighed the babies.

Leah Francis
Messiah College