My Encounter with Florence Nightingale at the Endoscopic Unit

[abdul naafik]

It has been almost 4 years now when I was diagnosed with stomach ulcer by a physician at my town in Ghana. The diagnosis was! purely based on the symptoms I explained to the physician; recurring heartburns, indigestion and pains in the abdomen. No endoscopic test was performed on me.

Omeprazole - one of the most widely used proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) -was prescribed to be taken in the morning at least thirty minutes before breakfast. I was advised to take it continuously for three to six months. I couldn't imagined myself at this young age depending on drugs for this long, but that was just the tip of an iceberg. My eating habit was also altered. I was counseled not to consume oily, spices, pepper, acid, caffeine, gaseous food and drinks respectively. Thank God sugar and salt wasn't included!

I heeded to this care and treatment plan until I was no longer experiencing any problem. Therefore I stopped using the drug and started ingesting anything that came my way. Last week Friday, I was rushed to the emergency ward of Ataturk Training and Research hospital in Turkey's capital, Ankara, following an acute abdominal pains. I was given Intravenous (IV) replacement and Nexium - which contains a medicine called esomeprazole, a proton pump inhibitors(PPIs). Before I was discharged, I was required to take a randevu, appointment, at the Gastroenterology polyclinic for endoscopic test. The appointment date was the following week Monday, September 26th, 2016. I requested for a change of the date to Thursday, 29th. Surprisingly, the issuer changed the appointment to 13th October which also falls on Thursday. Without carefully looking at it, I took the appointment home.

Thursday the following week, I woke up and went to the hospital without taking breakfast per the instructions given me. I arrived at the hospital very weak and thirsty due to the long fast of the night. For fear of having the result of the test being affected, I couldn't risked to take a sip of water. I arrived at the Gastroenterology polyclinic with my appointment letter and result of blood test that I was supposed to carry along. My ID was controlled, and I was asked to wait for my turn. Some few minutes later, I heard my name and so I walked with the speed of wind to the Nurse.

I was called back immediately I was about to enter the endoscopy unit. The reason being that I came the wrong day and that my appointment is next two weeks time. They instructed me to go home and come back on the appointed date. I was shocked and tried to explain what transpired between me and the issuer of the appointment. But i abruptly turned dumb and unable to speak at that moment. I looked pale and drowsy as i took my steps out of the corridor of the department. The stress and pressure on me triggered my abdominal pains. Already being weak, I fell flat to the floor. Partially unconscious, my name was echoing in my ears by voices of the nurses around. I woke up and saw the eyes of one of the nurse filled with tears to its brim. Slowly, it flows down her cheeks before landing on her uniform. I was troubled and couldn't tell whether the nurse felt pity for my condition or me being an African foreign student in the country. But one thing on my mind I never doubted is, the Nurse was simply empathic.

This empathic nurse told her colleagues to perform the endoscopic test on me and ignore the randevu. The fact that i was a student also had an influence on her. Her colleague nurses all complied without any hesitation, as if they were ready for a command. I entered the operating unit after taking some minutes rest. The endoscopy Nurse made me lie on my side on a couch and numbed the back of my throat by spraying some local anesthetic into my mouth. A plastic guard was placed in between my teeth. I started feeling uncomfortable when the endoscope tube was inserted in my mouth and pushed through the oesophagus to my stomach. Without the sense of pains, I began belching and throwing up secretions. The less than 10 minutes operation seemed an hour to me. A biopsy, a sample of part of the inside lining of my gut, was taken.

After the operation, the 'emphatic Nurse' smiled, hugged me and spoke in Turkish " geçmiş olsun" which literary means " speedy recovery or I wish you speedy recovery". As I write now, the report of the endoscopic test will be out on 19th October 2016.

The gesture and empathy shown me by the nurse was overwhelming and thought me a lesson that, Nursing is not all about administering care and treatment to patients. It's an embodiment of a whole lot of factors that ensures the complete health and wellbeing of a patient/client. This ranges from physical, psychological and social well- being and not just the ensuring the mere absence of diseases. I was taught the lesson of EMPATHY by that Nurse.