Hectic Hospital

May 24, 2023

    As we were waiting outside the hospital, I really didn’t know what to expect. There was not really a set schedule for this visit, and because of emergencies, the doctor showed up over an hour late. It was interesting to hear about the differences between private and public healthcare, but the most significant difference to me was between the Spanish hospital and the American hospital. One difference I noticed is all of the healthcare workers do not have any identifying name tags. They all wore random colored scrubs with no label of their name or position in the hospital. This would be a huge violation in the United States as every healthcare worker is required to have a form of identification visible on them. The doctor showing us around allowed us to go into the ICU which I found very odd. We were a group of over 20 people, and although we were wearing masks, we could bring in various new types of bacteria to patients in critical condition. I also felt like I was violating their privacy. If I was in the hospital and a bunch of people walked in, it would make me uncomfortable. The ICU also had a unique layout as it was basically a huge open room with small curtains dividing them. In the United States, each patient in the ICU has their own room with loads of privacy. I was curious about the privacy issue, and I figured out the reason we were able to go into the ICU: it was a private hospital. If we were touring a public hospital, we would not be able to go into the ICU that easily. I learned a lot from visiting the private hospital, and it made me somewhat thankful for the hospitals in the United States. The hospital seemed 100% functional, but it was a bit outdated.

This is the outside of the private hospital we visited. It was much
smaller than the ones we see in the United States.