After a good night’s sleep and an incredible breakfast provided by the hotel, we took an hour-long bus ride to the Universidad Austral in Pilar. After a brief snack and greeting, we were presented with information about nursing in the Americas and some of the challenges faced by the Hospital of Austral as a private hospital. While Argentina has some of the highest percentages of healthcare workers globally, they also have the lowest percentage of nurses with a Bachelor’s degree (BSN). We went into discussion on the issues caused by the ratio between nurses and physicians in Argentina, as there was roughly less than 1 nurse per doctor in the years prior. As nursing was not a more acclaimed career, nurses faced significantly lower salaries and status in comparison to other medical positions.
In the hospital of Austral and other private hospitals, there are many issues regarding the instability of the economy, as well as insurance coverage. As nurses are extremely outnumbered by physicians in Argentina (in extreme contrast to the US), nurses often have to work several jobs to attain more financial stability. While the Universidad Austral directly feeds nurses into the hospital, this issue is decreasing in concern; the same can’t be said for other private hospitals. As the economy continues to shift and many people are struggling with employment, the power of the unions and obras sociales has significantly decreased, leading to many issues in regards to how private hospitals are funded.
After the very informative lecture, we took a hospital tour and got to see the close-knit community of the healthcare workers there. Although it was a smaller hospital in comparison to larger US hospitals (roughly 25 beds per unit), it was impressive how many specialties they offered, including an ICU and pulmonary unit. The hospital looked roughly similar to a US hospital with various types of medical technology and relatively full waiting rooms. I really enjoyed getting to interact with some of the nurses and see each of the floors!
After the hospital tour, we had a mixer with some of the students who attend the Universidad Austral! This was an amazing opportunity to practice some Spanish as well as get over some of the communication barriers we faced while solving a case study as a group. The students were very kind to us, and we enjoyed a variety of empanadas during our discussion. Upon our arrival back at the hotel, we also explored El Aterno, a beautiful theatre themed bookstore and also had a delicious dinner at Santos Manjares. Once again, I feel very well immersed in the culture of Buenos Aires and am excited to see what tomorrow’s events will bring.
