Wednesday 29 April 2015

The Karen Hospital:The Award Winning Department



The staff of the Karen Hospital Theatre Department welcomed me warmly in their blue scrubs and crock shoes. They are a strict department. They denied me access into their rooms without having first removed my worn out shoes and my already dusty clothes as it was 3pm in the afternoon. With a big smile, clean scrubs, crock shoes and a hair net, I was finally allowed to walk into the department to learn what makes them the award winning department.
 
Leadership
The theatre department was named the Department of the year with its 21 member team led by Cardiac Nurse Julia Kibe. The department plays host to four major surgery facilities that have allowed even the least hopeful, to wake up and walk again. The department that displays utmost cleanliness and perfection has much to tell of their day to day activities.
“We are 9 nurses and 12 technicians in this department. My team is small but each member is self driven to achieve the best results. The patients might not remember us but we deliver not for recognition but for God and the life of man. It is easy to lead this team, it has a strong foundation of team work and passion,” Team Leader Julia said
The team plays host and servant to the four major units/ operating rooms
·         The Theatre
·         The Catheterization lab
·         Endoscopy
·         The CSSD-Central Sterile Supply Department
“I am a hand on person; it is hard to find me sitting in an office, I like to lead from the front. I love to lead this team; they have high spirits and bond well. Teaching them, with my over 20 year’s experience, is the best way to give back to this industry “She added.

Theatre Environment…
The team has been known to display the best customer service in the hospital. Wesley Lemanyang is one of the students attached to the hospital, when interviewed he stated that, he would love to enhance his studies in Theatre nursing. He claims that after his experience in the department he learnt the most, as compared to other departments, and would love to come back after his graduation to further grow with the department.
Ms Julia attributes this kind of behavior to having a purposeful objective for the department,” There is great satisfaction from seeing a patient who was immobile, down and almost lifeless, get up and live life again. It fills us, it completes us.”
The equipment found in the theatre labs of the Karen Hospital are among the best in the industry. According to one of the team members, they have state of the art equipment like the microscope value 500 which is the latest in the market, high end monitors and aesthetic machines.
 “We are not expensive at all, for the kind of service we give, it is worth it. We have a great nursing team that values each and every patient, which is the reason why the organization chooses to reward us; we do the job because we love to serve the people,”  said another Team Member.

 Working in the department…

The department that has a small room for the staff to have their breaks also holds one of the coldest rooms in the hospital, the catheterization laboratory (Cath Lab), where patients are made well without having to undergo an open surgery.

Cath lab In-charge Samuel Kingori says that working in the theatre department has been one of his greatest life achievements. The opportunity to work with the various experienced doctors has allowed him to gain diverse skills and enhance his knowledge.
“I love this job. Patients come in at life threatening levels and in risky positions, and I am given a chance to be part of the team that helps save them. It feels great,” added Nurse Kingori.
Nurse Julia, a cardiac theatre nurse, takes her time to teach other younger nurses on the impact of cardiac surgery. Having worked in various hospitals and received her cardiac nursing experience from India, the theatre department team leader states that the department is a place of work and not a single person goes without doing something and learning.
“Sometimes the doctors get frustrated in the theatre room, they may make us uncomfortable, but we keep calm and hold our cool and continue doing the job. Operating on a person is not easy therefore we understand their frustrations. Every patient who comes through our doors is a high risk patient; we never take anything for granted. The surgical team most at times includes the doctors, the anesthesiologist and the theatre nurses. W e pray for all the patients that pass through our doors,” Nurse Julia said.
The team that sacrifices a lot for the success of the department has had some nurses on their feet for surgeries that lasted over 10 hours, Nurse Julia has been in an operating room for 12 hours with a heart patient, “ We stand until the surgery is over and successful. No eating, no resting, no washroom breaks just standing until the patient is well again.”

The biggest challenge according to the team members is the pain that comes with losing a patient. They say that they never want to feel the dissatisfaction that comes from failing in the operating room. The team also recognized the good work that comes from treating Heart-to-Heart Foundation beneficiaries, who are mostly children.
“We tend to be more emotional when a child is involved, because we want them to live their full life. We however have to put our feelings aside and attend to them. We love to help save their lives. We do our best for every patient.” Nurse Julia Concluded.
The department is on the first floor of the Karen Hospital Main Branch, and is open 24 hours for any patient, that will need their services.

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