We began the day a little later today and headed to a tango lesson at IES. During the lesson, we learned a couple of basic steps, and although it was tricky to get the hang of, it was a lot of fun. The teachers of the lesson then gave us a demonstration of traditional tango and acrobatic tango. They did it so elegantly and smoothly, it was a funny contrast from our attempted steps. We’re going to see a tango show this coming Monday, and it was a fascinating preview of what’s to come!
After a quick stop at a deli for some empanadas and fruit for lunch, we were on our way to the Paroissien Hospital. Their hospital was huge, and we got to view the pediatrics, OB, emergency room, and ICU wings. The hospital was also extremely involved in the community offering programs that would allow residents to finish their high school degrees no matter their age, a mental health unit- the first that we’d seen in a hospital so far, and had a large integration of primary care examples of which included nursing students at the university educate primary and secondary schools about health, times when people could come in and ask questions about their health and be sent to their respective needed resources. There were also areas with beds where family members could sleep when visiting family members with chronic conditions, and a playground outside for children in the pediatric wing painted with murals. There was also a lot of artwork done by the children in the pediatric wing hanging around the hospital.
After touring the hospital, we went to the National University of La Matanza, where we stopped for a quick coffee break and then watched nursing students do a simulation of a patient going into cardiac arrest, and the nursing students had to administer CPR, shocks, and the correct medications. It went very well, and it was cool to see a preview of what our simulation lab at Pitt may be like this fall! At the end of the simulation, we, the nursing students from the university, and some administrators of the hospital all sat together and compared and contrasted the US and the Argentinian Health system and nursing curriculum. It was very cool to see all of us learn from each other. Everyone we met today was very welcoming and made the whole experience of both touring the hospital and the University an extremely fun and memorable experience!
How federalism ties into all of this. Federalism is the distribution of powers within the government. In the US, this power is divided between the national government and the states, while in Argentina, it is divided between the states to the provinces and then to the municipalities. This has a huge impact on the funding in public hospitals. Although San Isidro(the hospital we toured the other day) and Paroissien are both public hospitals in the same province of Buenos Aires, San Isidro receives its funding from its municipality, San Isidro and Paroissien receives its funding from the province, Buenos Aires. This creates a difference between the quality of the hospitals. The municipality of San Isidro is a wealthier area, so they are paying more taxes so therefore, the San Isidro hospital would receive more funding, allowing them to purchase equipment and supplies as needed. In contrast to this, Paroissien is located in a low-income area and therefore does not receive as much funding from its municipality and relies on the provinces. So although they serve 2 million people, they’re funding can’t accommodate the number of beds and equipment needed to accommodate all of them and keep an even inpatient-to-outpatient ratio. Even though Paroissien has good programs and community outreach for people to receive the medications and doctors’ appointments that they need, it’s hard to keep them consistent due to the fluctuating economy and lack of funding.
