Today I observed
a certified nurse midwife who was fantastic! When I arrived to check in at the
specialty clinic in the morning, no one was there yet and the midwife I was
supposed to observe is actually not in the office until the end of the week.
But the physician I was supposed to follow in the Family Birth Center on
Thursday and Friday actually works in both the health center and birth floor
throughout the week, so that was nice. I met the midwife and she was just
collecting information on her patients for the day. She had a patient load of
five, so it wasn’t too bad. She said she has her own way of getting the basics
of each person’s history and problem and jots that down on a piece of notebook
paper with the labs they may need, meds they are taking, and what the main
concern is.
The
first two women this morning were coming in for their annual wellness exams,
which are very important since many have to fly in from the villages. This is
the only chance they have to receive care and ask questions, since many health
aids in the villages are not certified for specialty care, cannot do labs, etc.
Prenatal visits took place for the third and fourth patients. I asked what rates
of prenatal care were, and the midwife told me only 38%. Rates of gestational
diabetes are exponential in Natives and Hispanics, which I also suspected
already. Thyroid problems were also priority on the list, so the midwife made
sure TSH labs were ordered on each patient, since abnormal levels can cause
depression and decreased milk supply. STD swabs for Chlamydia and gonorrhea
were also done. Those were the two standard STD tests done for each patient,
but if they wanted additional swabs for HIV, Hep C, etc., they could ask for
those. Domestic violence is also asked about by the midwife for each patient.
I
asked the midwife about what effect culture has during pregnancy and birth, and
she responded that she tries to keep medical jargon out of conversation. She
explains things slowly and thoroughly and allows lots of time for education and
questions. She said pregnant women cannot have any interaction with bears—art,
real bears, pictures, etc., for fear that they tamper with fertility. That was
extremely interesting to hear. The midwife made sure there were no bears
hanging on the walls in the clinic. I asked about how common home remedies were
and she said it varies between providers and patients. Most don’t see the
benefit of taking them for health, only as remedies when something is wrong.
Privacy,
dignity, and comfort were promoted with each visit. I was astounded by the
midwife’s ability to speak so calmly and confidently and ask so many questions.
She was very thorough. The assessments were much more
thorough than anything I’ve ever seen done before (including in Minnesota). The
assessments were holistic, which is very important to these women
because they only have the opportunity to receive care minimally, and
specialized care is pretty rare in the villages. The midwife went through a
full head to toe assessment with each patient.
The
midwife stated the women who come in are usually very young, which I noticed
immediately. Teen mothers are common. She stated teens need better rates of prenatal care, good
nutrition including folate, to stop drugs and alcohol, and notification for LBW
(low birthweight) and developing anemia or HTN. She said they are more likely
to deliver preterm babies, have low birthweight babies, or have long labors and that the father is not part of the
picture. Babies from teens are more likely to die in the first year of life. She encourages teen moms to stay in school or get a GED.
I really learned
a lot in a short period of time. The accountability of the staff together as a
team was unbelievable. Everything was exactly on time and the nurse
consistently anticipated the needs of the midwife, so labs and admission, etc.
were all very efficient. The staff was so open and welcome to me shadowing the
midwife and they answered questions and actually relayed information to me and
allowed me to be a part of the patient’s care. I really appreciated that since
I usually feel in the way and a nuisance! I see myself able to work in this
setting…. I was very surprised how “health literate” the patients we saw today
were, even the ones from the remote villages. I’m sure up towards the North
Slope and in the VERY remote villages, they are not as health literate. The
midwife told me this was true of the villages she goes to (she was making a
visit to one village next Thursday). The patients were very aware of what
issues had been priority at their previous wellness visits, what the results of
treatments were, etc. They asked lots of questions and seemed to understand
what the components of healthy diets were, exercise, etc. All in all, today was a
great experience for me and I am thrilled to be able to scrub in on a C-section
tomorrow morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment