We started our visit with a hospital leadership welcome meeting, this meeting included hospital administration and physicians. We reviewed the schedule and toured the hospital. Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Hospital treats all ages of patients with all types of cancer. We were told that 8700 patients are inpatients and outpatients. That is an incredible number of patients compared to US hospitals. The patients arrive and wait; a number system is used. The patients are inside the hospital lining hallways, stairways and in an outside veranda area. The hospital environment is not healing due to the amount of activity, sights, sounds and odors. The hospital is not air conditioned on the patient wards, only in certain areas, such as the operating room. Many patients bring their family to wait with them, this makes the hospital building very crowded. There are as many as 4 patients in one patient bed. Families care for the patient's needs, preparing food, providing care. There are 6-8 beds per ward, with up to four patients per bed, as well as multiple family members waiting on their loved one, this makes it challenging to provide nursing care. Nurses care for 20-30 patients per shift.
We saw many sad scenes, teen agers with amputated arms, due to cancer. One father showed us his son's arm tumor on a cell phone. This young boy showed much bravery as we stopped to visit him.
The afternoon schedule included our surgeon, Dr. Rick Nemer presenting on colon rectal cancer procedures and Tim Werner, RN presenting on the use of PICC venous access use in patient care.
Our first day ended with a van ride back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
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