August 26th: Community Health And Development (CHAD)

View of CHAD from the back

Our group with the St. John's masters students

Today has been a very exciting day. This morning, we took a short walk to the community hospital on the CMC campus. The hospital's name is CHAD, which stands for Community Health And Development. We met with Mrs. Suseela who took us and another group of master's nursing students, from St. John's University in  Bangalore on a tour of the facilities. Although the encounter was brief, it was great to chat with the other students. We wished we had had a little more time to swap perspectives on nursing practice and education.

One of the patient beds at CHAD

The CHAD hospital is significantly smaller than CMC's main hospital, however, it still serves a wide variety of functions for the community. On our tour we were able to see several different wards, including pediatrics, labor and delivery, specialty clinics (e.g. ENT, dental), immunization clinics, and others. At the moment there is a rotavirus vaccine program being offered that is part of a privately funded program that is optional for patients.

Instruments to be sterilized

The CHTC buildings where patient education and
workshops take place

Behind the hospital is a separate set of buildings known as CHTC - Community Health Training Center. Here the community health staff teach classes and workshops on various health topics. One program that has been successful is for newly married couples, where topics such as conception, menstruation, fertility, contraception options, and family planning (i.e. spacing pregnancies) are explained. In addition to the work they do at CHAD and CHTC, the staff also does community health outreach in local villages.

A medicinal plant with properties to help decrease symptoms of asthma.
There were many plants on CHAD's grounds

The large oxygen tanks stored at the back of CHAD

Alison and Rachael  

Sarah and Andrea

We were also able to see the theater (operating room). We ran into our new friend Dr. Anand Manuel the anesthesiologist who we met yesterday at the psychiatric department.  Although we were only scheduled for a tour of the facilities, he invited us to observe a scheduled Cesarean section. For one of us, this was the first opportunity to see a surgery, which made it even more unique. The rest of us were able to compare practices and protocol with those from the US. It was fascinating to watch the events taking place and identify the roles of all of the health professionals in the OR and see how the roles are the same or different. All in all, we have noticed often the role of the nurse is not as comprehensive or encompassing as in the US, including that of the OR scrub nurse.

Rachael, Sarah, Dr. Anand Manuel, Andrea, and Alison

Both yesterday and today, Dr. Anand was so good by taking time to explain things to us and to ask us questions to make us really think about what we were observing, the rationale behind the actions, and the relevant physiological aspects. We learned too that his wife, Jasmin, is one of the amazing nurses we met the other day - a true power couple!

As we write this, we are driving from Vellore to Chennai. We're then scheduled to fly to New Delhi and then drive from Delhi to Agra. We will arrive in Agra around 3:30 in the AM assuming there is no traffic. We have to rest up for our 9:30 tour of the Taj Mahal. It'll be a long day of travelling, but we are looking forward to our visit to Agra.