NR725A_WongPa_wk16_SL Blog Entry#2

The under/uninsured, working poor, and indigent population I served at the St Vincent de Paul Free Clinic, have their basic and some preventative healthcare needs met. The services provided by the clinic addressed urgent needs such as wound care (suturing and monitoring for complications), cold and flu treatment, hypertension management, diabetes management, and well child care. Unfortunately, the healthcare needs of these populations require more than the clinic has to offer. For example, hypertensive or diabetic crises require more in-depth resources in an in-patient setting for treatment and management which in turn require hospital admission. Without health insurance, many of the patients served by the clinic will put off admissions due to lack of money and insurance until they are physically overcome by the disease or illness progression. In fact, one of my most challenging things happened when I encountered a 23-year old male patient who was experiencing left-sided abdominal pain for two weeks without relief from over-the-counter medications. Subsequently, a CT-scan revealed intestinal cancer but the patient initially refused more diagnostic testing and treatment because he could not afford the cost of treatment. Although I counseled him about the gravity of non-treatment, he still refused. I involved the social worker and the clinic physician in a discussion about this case and fortunately the social worker was able to enroll this patient in an emergency temporarily funded state health insurance program for just these types of patients. After several attempts to contact the patient, we were able to secure a referral to oncologist who managed the patient as an outpatient through his initial phase of treatment. At this writing, I have lost contact with this patient for follow-up.

Services such as the St Vincent de Paul Free Clinic (SVDPFC) is a necessary fixture for this community as well as communities across the nation. This facility acts as a safety net for those who cannot afford insurance and those who are deemed ineligible for insurance. Additionally, services like the SVDPFC extend their human caring to undocumented immigrants who are suspicious and cautious about seeking health care (especially preventative care). In these uncertain times and decreasing financial support for charities, the SVDPFC needs more facilities like themselves to accommodate an increasing number of people requiring their services. In fact, Maricopa Health System (a county-run agency) has decreased the number of clinics county-wide and has started to require residency documentation in order to use their services. The means to provide more services such as the SVDPFC and diminishing rapidly without an alternative solution therefore I fear the Free Clinic will be overwhelmed if the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010 (AHA) is repealed by the Supreme Court. With this in mind, I am obligated as a member of my community, as a professional nurse, and as a Christian to continue my services with SVDPFC in order to promote the common good, care of the less fortunate, and the infirmed.

Throughout my service learning at the SVDPFC, I have learned that I have deep inspiration for political and social advocacy. I have attended several community action boards with State legislators concerning cuts in Medicare funding and have worked diligently to provide quality nursing care to the underserved and vulnerable populations within my community.  Additionally, I have gained insight to fragmentation of community resources for the under/uninsured, the working poor, and the indigent populations within society.  Furthermore, I have gained compassion, sympathy, and empathy for those who are less fortunate and fear for their safety.

Last Words for the Semester:  "When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed." --Mother Teresa