We come to the end of our Erasmus journey now is the time to reflect. Time has passed quite quickly, with that said there have been times that some comforts of home have been missed, particularly the routine of college and the food, Along with family and friends. One of the things that have struck me on this placement is the warm and caring nature of the hospital staff. Their attitude gives me something to aspire to in this line of work also there is admiration for staff for their patience, commitment, and professionalism. It has been a valuable insight into the operations of a hospital setting while caring for patients with varied types of illness.
Personally, for me, this has been a unique experience for the following reasons a realisation that I am capable of dealing with challenges that an HCA faces on a daily basis. I am grateful for this educational experience to show me, my strengths and weakness while working in this area. One of my biggest challenges was aiding a man that had sacral and skin cancer, he had just undergone an operation and his skin was left exposed quite deeply. I witnessed and aided a nurse to dress his wound. A worrying factor for me starting this work experience was my ability to cope with these situations but empathy for the patient was at the forefront of this circumstance and I surprised at my coping mechanisms. We will be forever appreciative of our supervisor Ruben and the staff we worked with for their patience throughout this experience, they created an invaluable training and a comfortable environment for us to work in, especially with the lack of our language skills. This work experience for me has been a valuable module in this course, it is of key importance to gain a knowledge of this type of work. Although challenging at times, we feel that hands-on experience in Madrid was character building for us and perhaps much needed observational skills that may not have been available in Ireland. We are truly grateful for this experience and feel admiration for ourselves and for our fellow colleagues on this journey! -Lorraine
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So as I reflect on the last three weeks my head is filled with many emotions and I am filled with great experience. As i'm writing my last blog I've come to the conclusion that being a carer is exactly what suits me and my personality.
I have met amazingly strong willed and caring people that showed us the strength of caring for others and also the importance of looking after yourself. Rosita and myself were assigned to a room feeding two older patients, whom are completely reliant on care, and that situation was completely new for us. We adapted quickly using non verbal communication techniques. After such a long week we decided to relax and take in the cultural sites of Madrid, the royal palace with its amazing architecture that literally blew us away. Sunday was are day of reflection...so much yet so little time left. -Daria The last few days have been so busy for us all at the hospital. We have all moved to new wards. The assistants who are teaching us are now allowing us to do some of the everyday jobs on our own. This in itself has done wonders for our healthcare work profile and inner confidence that a person’s health can now be trusted to us independently.
Our routine consists of, taking all the patient’s temperatures and recording them, making all the beds for patients who are independent and then assisting the HCA bath, dress and lift out the dependent patients. It has really boosted our confidence. We visited the laboratory, where we saw how they test bodily fluids for different bacteria, and this determines the treatment or antibiotic that’s used to treat a patient’s infection. I’ve seen decubitus ulcers treated on a few elderly patients and learned that at stage three and four they cause no pain, so a patient can have a large open wound and not feel it. This is incredible to me because the visual impact of these wounds is very high and shocking so one would presume intense suffering on the patient’s side. Today before we left work we attended a talk on the different types of stomas, including information on what they look like and how to take care of them for patients. -Estella What we have learned in such a short space of time is truly amazing. Adapting to a culture and language we know so little about has been challenging but satisfying. I can speak for us all and say that we have adapted 100%. Communication is vital in this line of work and non verbal techniques have been used with great patience from the staff, who have been showing us everything and pointing out the reality of what our future as careers will be like. The weekend involved of nice lazy mornings followed by a trip to to local museums, Cervantes house, a well known local writer who is best known for Don Quixote. We walked through an amazing archaeology museum, immersing ourselves with the cultural history and feeling a connection with the Spanish years gone by was truly breathtaking.
Monday morning myself and Daria started our shift early and were well organised as usual. However I was informed that a patient we had cared for during the week had passed away. As I had had a personal interaction with this patient, I felt overwhelmed with emotion, a challenge in this field that one has to overcome and deal with. Overall we have become part of the team and constantly learning everyday. -Rosita This is the last day of our first week...and what an experience is it is turning out to be. It was a really busy day on the ward today for myself and Lorraine. Taking temperatures, feeding patients and changing beds. I even got an opportunity to remove two cannulas from a patient who was heading home. I have to say I was quite nervous but both the nurse and patient were so encouraging. We are getting so much hands on experience. All the nurses and HCA's are so nice . They seem to be enjoying learning a little English as well as teaching us some Spanish.
In the afternoon Ruben took all of us to visit the blood bank and psychiatric ward where both the staff and patients were very open with us and showing us around the care environment . The patients partake in so many activities and get to go out a few times a week with family to help with their recovery. We are impressed by the access we have to so many aspects of the care process and know this is just such a huge learning curve for all four of us. Rosita and Daria had a very busy day as well with so many patients getting to go home. The photos are just some of the trolleys we use and the nurses station. -Estella Another early and cold start this morning for our 4th day in Hospital Universitario de Asturias. Our taxi driver was extremely friendly this morning, heeven gave us small gifts on account of it being Valentine's Day.
Rosita and I started our day again on the surgical specialist ward on floor 2, ward A. This ward focuses on issues of the eyes, ears, cancer, amputations and general injuries. We observed the clients charts, and we were teamed up with the healthcare assistants. I was paired with Patricia; and Rosita with assistant Elisia. The morning started with us fitting fresh bed linen before breakfast was served. The next important task today was to make sure that some of the patients were washed, dressed and prepared for their day. Today the nurses were busy redressing wounds and distributing medications. After a sunny break, head nurse Ruben who organises students in the Universita Hospital de Asturias, came to our ward and invited us to observe the baby unit for premature births. Another amazing day in the Hospital, with a lot of experience in observing many different patients. We are all going home happy, with big smiles on our faces and we look forward to what tomorrow holds. -Daria We arrived at Hospital Principle de Asturias for an 8 am start. We changed into our uniforms which we were given in our official start day. Our uniforms are Blanco! (white) The HCA's wear these and the nurses wear a blue uniform. In Spanish, the HCA is known as an auxiliar. When we arrive at 8 am the HCA and nurses operate the change over from the night before and go through the care plan for each patient recording any changes that need to be made. Estella and I were assigned to two HCA's, Mary Jose and Carmen whom we assisted throughout the day.
They were extremely helpful, showing us the careful method of carrying out our care skills. They have been employed in the hospital for over 5 years. We gave the patients their breakfast which arrived in trays. Each patient has a meal plan specific to their needs, for example, there were diabetic patients which need a certain amount of calories. There were some patients who had difficulty with swallow were not given water but jelly. The HCA asked a patient was it okay if I helped to feed a patient. I fed one female with porridge and her medication crushed into it. It was a very busy morning! We are all so aware of the value of applied learning in this placement as it is so relevant here to us at the hospital. -Lorraine Our second morning in Alcala de Henares Madrid consisted of an early rise at 6am. We had booked a taxi the previous evening, to pick us up at 7.15am to make sure we would arrive on time. We arrived at the hospital for 7.30am with plenty of time to gather our bearings and get into our uniforms. I had little butterflies but in new surroundings I knew this was normal. Myself and Daria were assigned to the second floor which caters for many patients with diverse needs. I was paired with two assistant carers and from the beginning we were set up for work.
The first patient was a gentleman in his late 60s and an amputee from both knees down. He needed a bed bath and pad change. As it was my first time to see this, I was a little apprehensive but found myself quickly helping with soiled sheets and towels and putting them into the correct disposal area. At 10am the food cart for breakfast was brought to our ward and I corresponded the rooms with the food as there was a chart for each patient’s bed and room. Throughout the morning we changed bed linen and I tried my best to communicate as best I could. Luckily, the carers used Google translator to talk with us which made us relax and understand certain situations better. One nurse asked me to observe a wound dressing change for a patient with diabetes. The nurse held his foot as I unwrapped the dressing. Initially when I saw the open wound, raw flesh and bone had me feeling a little nervous as I didn't want to hurt the patient but he was so amazing and calm I relaxed very quickly into helping the nurse redress and apply the necessary antiseptic and antibiotic fluid to the area. The morning went by very quickly and soon it was time for lunch. We went to the staff cafeteria where Daria, Lorraine, Estella and myself met to talk through our morning activities. After lunch, the nurses were very busy with paper work and we mainly observed and spoke a little Spanish in the staff room. We all finished work at 3pm and before I left the ward with Daria we thanked the nurses for all the help and knowledge we gained in such a short space of time. Estella and Lorraine had experiences of care and communication with both clients and staff and they found the entire day filled with new learning as well. We all agreed that it was great to get straight into the work situation without too much standing around as this is what we know we came here for. Anne had told us of the value of observational learning but that too much would not allow us to develop practical or vocational skills in our health service area. We were all please with how we managed the language and relied a lot on intuition and non verbal skills which were excellent. We also developed a keen awareness about the practical and emotional needs of clients in a hospital setting. -Rosita We started today with some preparations for the week, before Maria and Anne collected us at the apartment at 11am. Today was all about planning and preparation for our placement. Maria drove us directly to the hospital where we met Anchal, who is the advisor for all students.
He brought us to the location to collect our uniforms and lockers. It is such a huge hospital, we were all amazed at how big it was. We also thought initially that it was very quiet...but as it turns out, there is one area for staff mobility and another for patients and the ward areas. We then met Reuben, a nursing teacher from the university who allocated us our wards, and told us what we would be observing. This will be an incredible experience for us all. A unique experience in the area of care work. We will get to observe the care of patients post surgery from trauma, brain surgery, kidney complications, embolism and much more. We feel very privileged at this stage, as we know learning takes place both in an observational way as well as practical. Maria very kindly brought us all to Madrid and showed us some of the key tourist areas. It’s an amazing city and we are lucky to be here to experience it both in a learning and leisurely capacity. Maria is an amazing host and insisted on dropping us back to our apartment from Madrid again. I am really looking forward to tomorrow. -Estella It was really nice to wake up this morning in our accommodation near Madrid -Alcala de Henares, knowing that we can expect a wonderful adventure and that this great experience will impact on our future in seeking work in Health Service Skills sector. This morning we travelled by bus to the centre of the Alcala it seemed that the sun followed us all the way! The wether gave us a great opportunity for walk around the area exploring the buildings, parks, church and beautiful culture on offer. We too time to take some nice photos. Tomorrow we will set off early to begin our work placement at Hospital Universitario Principe de Asturias. We are already exited and preparing everything for our important day. I look forward to tomorrow's experience and the challenges this will bring. I'm very curious how our first day will be and what all we will learn. I can't wait wait to begin...
-Daria |
Health Service Skills 2018-19
Map of Madrid |