Friday, June 11, 2010

Day 14: Final Day at Downe Hospital and Bracken

Today was my last day at Downe Hospital and this time I was placed in the Maternity ward. I was placed with the receptionist named Sandra. The Downe Hospital only has midwives on staff, so they only handle births that will not present complications. If there is any doubt with a pregnancy, then the expecting mom is sent to Lagan Valley or the Ulster Hospital to deliver. The Maternity ward of the hospital is quite unique from other parts of the hospital because it does not use the waiting list like other areas. Also, I found it interesting that the expecting moms are given their medical notes and they are supposed to keep them with them at all times in case something were to happen. They also are responsible for bringing them to the hospital.


(Finally a picture of the Downe Hospital)

When I arrived, Sandra informed me that unfortunately, Fridays tend to be slow and there were only four patients scheduled all day. Soon after she said this, two patients called to cancel their appointments. While Sandra felt bad that I wouldn’t get to see much, she still was able to show me how to do a lot of different tasks, and I really enjoyed my time there. Sandra taught me how to schedule appointments, which is different from other parts of the hospital. We had to send a letter and a bunch of educational materials out to patients, so we also did that. Additionally, she walked me through each of the tasks she would do each day had there been more patients being seen. I was also given a tour of the birthing suits by one of the midwives and even sat in on one of the appointments where a patient needed blood work done because of a low iron count.

After leaving the hospital, I headed home for a bit and then we were picked up to head to the Saint Patrick Centre to hear one of the bands that the Ulster-Scots is sending to Milwaukee Irish Fest. The band was called Bracken and was mostly made of members in their teens. They had only been practicing for a month, but they were great. One of the girls in the group is only 15 and she is the World Champion for Irish Dancing. Let me tell you, she can dance! I’m really looking forward to seeing Bracken at Milwaukee Irish Fest this year!


(Bracken playing us a private concert)

Shortly after hearing the band’s private concert, we headed to a pub in Downpatrick and had a pint. We mainly just hung out with Tim and talked for a while. It was nice to just chat and not be on the go somewhere. We got back a little while ago, so I’ve been writing my blog and by now, I’m exhausted. The internet passwords we have expire tomorrow, so this might be my last blog post before returning to the US if we can’t get new passwords. We’ll see what happens though.

Goodnight!

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