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A Day in the Life of Siloam: a Provider’s Perspective

Originally published in the Summer 2002 edition of Healing Waters
By Clay Satterfield, RN, CFNP

Clay Satterfield, RN, CFNP

8:30 As I walk into the clinic, the phone is already ringing. (I believe we could operate 14 hours a day!) The fax machine is full of printed lab reports and needs more paper. I quickly gather the reports and scan them for urgent needs. I know I'll need to schedule time to call my patients who are waiting for results - hopefully they will speak English so that we can communicate. I match lab reports with patients' charts and place them in the other providers' boxes, then walk back to the pharmacy to see if there are any drugs that need to be sorted. (Thanks for the donations and keep 'em coming!)

8:50 I take a look at the schedule to prepare for the day … the staff starts to gather for prayer. This is always the day's highlight. We commit the day and pray for specific patients that we know we will be seeing.

9:00 As usual, the waiting room is full and charts need to be made. Of course, nothing is easy since so many of our patients don't speak English as their primary language. Sometimes, even the question, "Do you have an appointment," becomes a challenge. Because there are often walk-ins and call-ins, we begin our clinic time by estimating how many additional patients we can see.

9:30 Ellen (staff nurse) and I take a phone call from a man who had been in a few days earlier for a fungal infection of his groin. I had recommended a cream, but apparently he mistakenly bought the spray and he is concerned that the spray took away his "nature." I can guess, but I'm not sure what he really means, so we tell him to come see us after lunch.

10:00 I head to see a woman who understands English but doesn't speak it. Her husband is with her and he can speak English. She was in a couple of weeks ago because she was having hot flashes, muscle aches and mood changes. She is 50 years old and has entered menopause, so I had suggested that she consider hormone replacement. She returned for treatment and also to have her IUD removed. We had not scheduled for this, but I try to accommodate her request because I know it is difficult for many of our patients to arrange a clinic visit.

10:30 A 13 year old girl is waiting to see me. She had suffered several bouts of pharyngitis this winter, but had not been treated because the family could not afford care. I tell them that I need to culture her tonsils to determine if an antibiotic is necessary. Her resistance to the idea surprises me. She begins to sob and what should take 5 to 10 seconds takes 5 to 10 minutes. After the test, I decide she should take an antibiotic. We only have it in pill form and she has difficulty taking pills. Her mom and I spend another 5 minutes convincing her that she needs to take what we have available (her mother can't afford to purchase the liquid form from a pharmacy). I am sorry that our medicines are limited and that she is frightened and frustrated with feeling sick.

Noon Next I head off for what I expect to be an easy patient visit. It is a group of three young brothers who have recently arrived from Puerto Rico to join their father here. Thankfully, their father speaks English. Obviously, he is a very intelligent man; however, he mistakenly overdosed on his medication earlier this morning and as his boss put it, "he's as drunk as 40 monkeys." The boys are all healthy, but the oldest boy suffers from mental retardation and seizures. There are lots of issues to discuss and it is a great challenge to keep the father awake and alert. We schedule a follow-up visit with Sharon, the social worker who comes from Mercy Children's Clinic. It is a blessing to have her as a resource for the boys.

1:10 The family leaves and I decide with a smile that perhaps we have taken too many walk-ins. Where did that lunch break go? Better grab it while I can. (We try to slow down at 12:00 so that we can take a lunch before we gear up again at 1:00.)

1:20 I rush back from a quick lunch to see our friend with the groin problem. He tells me that he needs me to fix this situation. This leads to a discussion on abstinence - I realize that we often find ourselves in situations that give us opportunities to encourage healthy lifestyles and occasionally to share God's wonderful plan for marriage and family. In this case, I'm not sure how effective I was, but at least he understands the difference between the spray and the cream.

2:30 One of my favorite aspects of the clinic is caring for the newly arriving refugees. The excitement and hope of a new beginning is wonderful to witness. Often, the struggles of adjustment go hand in hand with their excitement. As we meet their needs, Siloam becomes a place of refuge from some of their new stresses.

3:00 The rest of the afternoon goes similarly to the morning. Hopefully, things will go as planned and it won't be a late evening.

4:00 Begin to see the remaining patients of the day. Still have some charting to finish and those follow-up phone calls. It's always different, but, in a way, always the same. There are always sick people. There are always phone calls. And there is always paperwork. But, it's rewarding work and we serve a wonderful patient population - they come with incredible stories and are so appreciative of the care they receive at Siloam. I thank God there is a place like Siloam and that I get to serve Him here.