Anytime I tell people that I've never visited, talk more of being admitted to the hospital throughout my years from childhood to adulthood, they always wonder in awe, well that has been my case until I had my first child, which unavoidably, I had to get the right treatment and deliver my child safely, which all went smoothly. I got discharged after my short two-day stay at the hospital.
The only time I knew what it really felt like to be admitted to the hospital was when my daughter of about one year then became critically ill, it started as flu but kept getting worst, all prescribed medication seemed not to work for her, and her health deteriorated further, till we rushed her to the hospital. To be frank, Nigeria hospital is not a place you will like to find yourself in, with the lackadaisical attitude of the staffs, especially the nurses and sometimes the doctor also very common to a government owned hospital, my daughter wasn't paid attention to at first as there were many people who wanted to see the doctor, even with her condition which was an emergency situation, after waiting patiently and the doctor on ground was just one, it took me acting drama and screaming my lungs out before they checked on her and quickly rushed into action, from even her blood samples collected, the doctor said if I had wasted more time and not even acted the way I did to get their attention I would have lost my daughter that night.
The memory remains fresh in my memory, and this happened about four years back, my daughter is five now. The unfavorable condition of government hospitals makes one wonder if any funds are being allocated to our health care system at all, although I must praise most of their doctors, from my experience, the doctors in government hospitals are experts compared to the ones in private because each doctor is assigned to his exact line either an obstetrician, gynecologists, physiotherapist, etc, unlike private hospitals that assign one doctor for all ailment.
I spent about two months there before my daughter got discharged, in the children's ward we stayed, the doctors showed more care and concern, although there were some rude nurses who would talk down at some parents as if they were the cause of their child ailment, adding more pain to a parent already worried heart, that I begin to wonder if those nurses were trained in hell. One thing I noticed was that, if you had money, they would treat you with more respect, since they constantly need to bribe their way through the long line especially when asked to go for a test.
CONCLUSION
My time at the hospital is honestly one of the most trying times of my life, I learned to appreciate life the more, seeing people going through different ailments you can never imagine, even kids, I cried almost every day out of sadness and appreciation for the good health I took for granted. At the end of it all, I'm glad my, daughter got better and I never prayed to have any reason to visit the hospital again, it drains one, physically, emotionally, and financially that it takes time to get yourself back, well according to my experience.
This post is in response to the hive learners weekly contest, week 69, edition 2.
