An NGO Nurse on Infection and Prevention Control: Back to Basic Healthcare

I am always grounded on Florence Nightingale's Environmental Theory that utilizing the environment can assist the recovery of the patient. As the Founder of Nursing quoted, "it will take 150 years for healthcare services to be appreciated." 

"Alcohol rub return demo" 

Now, the Philippines has experienced one of the greatest blows during the COVID-19 pandemic. We ranked 20 among other nations that are still fighting against these unseen enemies. Looking back at history, it was the year 2003 when we had SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and after more than a decade, we are hit by this another dreaded respiratory disease. 

The country was taken by storm. One infected person after another until it spread uncontrollably, and rose up to national emergency level. Unfortunately, the country was in chaos and it took a while to reorganize although in the micro-level, efforts to contain and mitigate the virus were felt.  

This is where my story comes in. I am a nurse by profession and before I came back in Cebu, I was a practicing nurse in a hospital setting in General Santos City. It was an 18-bed capacity hospital but sometimes reached beyond its required level. As a monitoring unit nurse (equivalent to Intensive Care Unit except that we don't have a mechanical ventilator), our patients were all over the place in South Cotabato, therefore it gets overwhelming. 
 
I Responded to the Call
I never thought that I would be tap to manage the Infection and Prevention Control training to 10 different barangays in Cebu City. In other words, I teach and train barangay health workers in a non-pharmaceutical manners and ensure that they follow and share these health protocols to the barangay residences.

"With Maam Malou, Cebu DILG Cluster Head Designate" 

Helping the Healthcare System in the Micro-level
What is alarming and common in each barangay that I interviewed is that their nurse to population issue is a shocking 1:the total number of residences. 

To illustrate, one nurse is assigned in a barangay health center catering to 84 sitios/purok with 42,000 population. Normally, a BHERT Team consists of the Barangay Captain, Councilor who handles the Committee of Health, BPSO, and BHW. With this composition, the team is likely to respond, in an ideal setting, for 5000 population. If there is only one nurse then this ideal set-up will most likely to remain ideal.

Directives and Response
One unique directive that was released in the Cebu City Government is the release of Expanded BHERTs. Simply, the barangay can decide to expand the team which can involve the CSO (Civil Society Organization), and other volunteers.
"BHERT Training with Brgy. Pit-os" 

The Cebu City Government also poses the BIN (Barangay Intelligence Network) that enables the reporting if cases faster. They also further the hiring and the deployment of contact tracers to barangays to mitigate and control the spread of the virus.

With all these efforts from the government, it is still best to keep in mind the importance of proactive cooperation from eavh individual. I believe that to solve this pandemic, our greatest defense is to be mindful and careful to prevent the spread. 
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9 comments:

  1. Knowing this information that the government is making sure that the people are safe is great news. I'm so proud of people like you who took the challenge and made sure to help in making this possible.

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  2. It is good to know that our government is trying their best to combat our current situation. Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us and thank you for your service too. Stay safe! :)

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  3. It's amazing how the Universe works and find ways to lead us back to paths we're meant to take. Reading your article, Anj, makes me happy because it is not only informative -- I can also feel the sense of fulfillment in the service and purpose you have now. I'm proud of you, too. <3

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  4. This article is very informative! By reading this article, we can learn to manage our families when it comes to health crisis. Knowing the fact that the coronavirus is everywhere and we must practice health protocols all the time.

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  5. This article is very informative! We can learn about safety measures on this blog and we need to practice it when the health crisis is occur. People like you is very strong and dedicated when it comes to public safety and it is our primary concern when it comes to healthcare system here in our country. The government should strengthen the area for public safety.

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  6. I just hope that our government will give more value on what you guys are doing. In fact, you've been helping in making our society intact especially nowadays. All I want to say is thank you for all your service!

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  7. It is good to know that there are updates like these but how is the progress of digital technology adoption from a contact tracing perspective? What of the adoption of the potential of telemedicine? Are these areas of engagements being talked about at all or are the initiatives solely focusing of human resource mobilization?

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    1. Hi, Iggy,

      Well, the EOC (Emergency Operation Command Center) is packed with this digital initiatives. The headquarter has telemedicine, and COVID Kaya for contact tracing. I forgot to mention about BIN (Barangay Intelligence Network) headed by the PNP Stationed in the barangay with the help of the BPSO. Cebu City has a linear functional unit. In other words, the data from the barangay unit will be handed over at the EOC and the EOC will be handing them over to the respective department. COVID-19 Cases are handled by the CESU (City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit) and the EB (Epidemiology Bureau) which by the way manned by firm and nice doctors (epidimiologists - had the chance to meet them and interviewed them.) Data are then updated by the PNP (still at the EOC.

      By the way, the Philippine Physician Assoc. just arrived this week in Cebu and they will be talking about more about the pandemic.

      I hope this answers your queries. Keep you updated! =)

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  8. This is very informative. I'm glad that we have this safety protocols and assistance with this brave people like you to do the job. My biggest salute to all of you!

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