Long and Frustrating Days

I am working on the pediatric wards again.   This week has been particularly tiring, since the census is high and we have new doctors and students working on the wards.  Morning rounds have lasted for 5 hours of standing on our feet, which is twice as long as normal.

Some of the frustrations our medical team has faced include:

- the hospital running out of kits to test for HIV
- the hospital running out of reagents to check for key investigations – like CD4%  
- the hospital radiology machines (ie. CT scan) are broken
- lab results go missing
- overdose of medications prescribed by doctors
- parents forgetting to give their children medications
- not enough nurses at night to check on patients’ conditions, and mothers waking up to find their children have died
- doctors not showing up for their work duties on the wards

These days can be particularly hard when there are many deaths occurring on the wards, especially deaths that are preventable.

It has been these long and frustrating days that I find myself desiring more and more for Christ’s return to redeem the injustice and broken world we live in.