3 months to go.....

So it’s now the homeward run with only 3 months to go and I think this blog is suddenly going to get busy as I’ve just discovered that my laptop is no longer reading my DVD’s (and what an absolute wind up that is, I’ve been watching ‘West Wing’ for months and was about to start the last season !!!)….so what with no television and the internet connecting whenever it feels like it (blimey all I need to happen is to no longer have any electricity and it will the VSO experience I expected it to be!!) .... my evenings are going to now involve writing this, lots of reading and bed by 8 which you could argue isn’t a bad thing but I think I may lose the plot…or perhaps the will to live without any of these stimulants …. I’ll be relying on you to let me know if there’s even a hint of it…..

I don’t think I’ve said anything about my work – preceptor advisor-what’s that then? Sorry to my nurse friends but not all are so allow me to explain, in a nutshell it’s a senior nurse who likes to support student nurses-it’s great, I do it at home and will never forget the hideous way some nurses didn’t support me when I was a student so go out of my way to ensure that students don’t feel like a spare part when they come on the ward. Same idea here and my role is to support those preceptors across the North East of Cambodia. At the moment there’s 50 of them that I support (photo shows some of the preceptors with my lovely Katja).It ‘s challenging to say the least as they are spread out over a large area, the furthest being a 12 hour bus journey away in a province called Preah Vihear and the closest being down the road here in Stung Treng! I started with a needs analysis and basically they are doing an ok job. To be honest I admire anyone who comes to work everyday for $50 a month (and no it’s not a living wage, even here). Of course there are things that could be better (as there could at home), they’re not giving feedback to the students in the most effective way and are not very creative with their teaching so that’s what we’ve been discussing but in my opinion it really isn’t that bad. Some are more enthusiastic than others but these nurses and midwives were told they are going to be a preceptor not asked ! I go around with my lovely volunteer assistant Channa and share my skills which some embrace and others not so much!

There are a lot of people trying to make things better (both local and international) but until the government start valuing their health workers and recognising and accepting that they are the backbone of healthcare and deserve to be properly trained and equipped to do their job then I am not sure we will get very far.

The public hospitals are not used like they should be- the main reason being poor quality of care which of course results in reduced demand. The poor quality is evident in poorly maintained infrastructure, lack of medical equipment and supplies and low morale of personnel. We also need to move from a patronage system to a system of merit where people get power or money on the basis of their capabilities not on the basis of nepotism.

There’s also the fact that many nurses and midwives are either working in or own private clinics which of course they need to because of the ridiculous wage they get from the government.

So lots still to do but as the sayings go…. one little step at a time… Rome wasn’t built in a day…..the elevator to success is out of order, you’ll just have to use the stairs-one step at a time….there is no sudden leap into the stratosphere, there is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid towards your goals…..and one of my favourites-a german proverb apparently-the greatest step is out the door….and on that note I think I’ve rambled enough…it’s 7.30pm and I’m going to bed with Terry Pratchett.