I know, I know, I'm a nurse so why would I be afraid getting shots? I think it's the anxiety that I feel while anticipating the feeling of the needle piercing my skin...
Yesterday, I had no choice but to "conquer" this fear again. Here's my story... 3:00AM, I was wide awake, got hungry, decided to cook pancit canton, went to open the pantry, felt something prick/puncture my sole, thought it was just a splinter but panicked when I saw it was a rusty nail. Long story short, I went to the "regional hospital" to get my tetanus shots.
Since I slept late, my cousin and I went at around 10AM. Went straight to the OPD but was disappointed to find out that I had to rush because the doctor is leaving... WTH??? 10AM and he's already leaving. In fairness to the nurses they were quite accommodating. So I went to the guard to get my number (note: guard stationed at the information counter) and this conversation left me open mouthed.
Guard: (explaining to the patient's companion) Ang iya na utok nadunot na. Tapos ang iya spinal cord wala na ga angot amo na nga na paralyze sya. (trans: Her brain is already decayed. Then her spinal cord isn't connected anymore that's why she's paralyzed.)
Companion: (listening carefully to every word the guard says) Te kay antes di sya naghalin ok naman ang iya BP.(trans: but when she left her BP was ok)
Guard: (still feeling knowledgable) Wala na ya labot ang iya BP (trans: it has nothing to do with her BP.
I did not hear how their conversation ended coz my cousin and I were so "amazed" at how confident the guard explained the patient's condition to the companion that we left laughing. It's not that I'm looking down on the guard, but for him to explain a patient's condition in such a way is quite disturbing for me. We also found out that what the guard was trying to explain in the first place was the result of the x-ray. I believe interpreting an x-ray result as well as explaining a patient's condition is the sole responsibility of the doctor. I also regret not telling the companion to go directly to the doctor to get accurate explanation.
Ok so back to my scareperience. Realizing that it would take us forever to get the Tetanus toixiod shot via the OPD, my cousin and I went to the ER thinking it would be faster since ER stands for EMERGENCY ROOM right? WRONG. I took us a lifetime (exaggerating here). The line for the admitting section wasn't long but it took us quite a while before we got our admission slip. Reason? The lady in charge of inputing my data ( which only included my name, age, birthday and address) was using only 2 fingers to type. Talk about super slow. Again, I am not putting her down. It's just that, they were in an air-conditioned room while we were lined up outside under the scorching heat of the sun. Not to mention, patients are not attended to in the ER unless they finish the admission steps (including lining up again at the cashier to pay).
So after like 30 minutes, I was brought inside the ER, all the while I was thinking that the ER staff would be the one to inject and the not the student nurse. Ok this part is just really me being a brat. I wanted a quick shot from an experienced hand as I hate having shots, but the one who gave me the shot was the student ( assisted by his Instructor). I was trying not to look so I would not find any fault in what he was going to do, but I couldn't help it. Ok, I'm not gonna bash him but it hurt! He hasn't got what I call the "light" touch.
That was just the first day. I had to go back the following day for my ATS shot. So again, we went back. Got the number from the guard and was told to go to Window 3. Again, hospital employees working in the administrative department does not know what it means to work FAST. They just take their time writing and talking to the people around them not mindful of the long line that's starting to build up. Not to mention, they don't know how to explain to the patients/companions.
There was this old lady, who, just like us came back the next day to have her results read. She said she already paid nearly 2K for the lab tests. She got her number, lined up and when it was her turn, she informed the guy on Window 3 that she just needs the results to be read/interpreted. The guy told her that before she can have her results interpreted, she needs to pay some amount. WTF??? This is a government hospital. Most people go there since it's cheaper (I did coz I would have paid thousands for the shots if I went to a private Hospital). So why would they charge indigent patients even if it was just P50.00 to have the results read?
I think unconsciously this is one of the reasons why I gave up this profession. I cannot imagine myself working there. I think I would end up having enemies. Hahaha...
Back to my fear of shots. I was trying to psych myself up since I know the skin test is going to hurt BIG TIME. And I wasn't wrong! IT HURT. It felt like a really painful sting from a gigantic bee.
[caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My skin test wheel"]
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After 30 minutes, the doctor "read" my skin test to see whether I was allergic to ATS or not. Thankfully it was negative or else I would have to buy the more expensive one. So I got my ATS shot, on the other arm of course and this time by an experienced hand ☺.
So that was how my tetanus scareperience went. I can now go and "hack", puncture, prick and poke myself as much as I can for 5 years. Yehey!
Sorry if this post was more of a complain... I leave you with a picture of me after my ATS shot...
Please excuse my flabby/fat arms....
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