No one looks forward to a health
crisis, but at some points in time,
visits to the hospital are inevitable.
For those in Nigeria, whether it is
for a routine check-up, to get
treatment or to volunteer and help
sick people into the ward, certain
experiences make a trip to the
hospital unique.
Here are 7 of the funny signs that you
are in a Nigerian hospital.
1. The nurse shares her opinion on
your weight
In any Nigerian hospital, before you
see the doctor, your temperature and
blood pressure, as well as weight, is
recorded. Do not be surprised when
the nurse makes a bold comment as
“Ah, aunty, you are too big for your
height, please work on it, oh, It is not
attractive” or “ Haba, you are too
thin, you no dey chop”. Basically,
Nigerian nurses feel they have the
license to share their opinions with
you and usually, you cannot argue
with them.
2.The receptionist would rather
watch African Magic
Most hospitals in Nigeria now are
starting to adopt the Electronic
Paperwork system, and almost every
receptionist or front desk staff in
Nigerian hospitals, especially old
hospitals, find this annoying. They
prefer to just sit, hand out files and
watch African Magic on television. In
fact, sometimes, they would ignore
patients so they do not miss a
particular scene in a movie.
3. You wait so long for everything
From submitting your card, to seeing
the doctor, taking tests and collecting
your drugs from the pharmacy, you
are bound to spend almost an entire
day at a Nigerian hospital. The staff
seem to take their sweet time in doing
almost everything, and so even when
there is no crowd, you still have to
wait. Good thing is that most of the
hospitals have canteens and tuckshops
where you can go and eat when you
start to get hungry.
4. There is that IZAL smell
It seems like almost every hospital in
Nigeria, especially the public ones,
made a decision that they would use
IZAL, a strong and very pungent
disinfectant, to clean their environs.
This smell usually is nauseating,
especially when the toilet is not
properly cleaned and the offensive
odour of faeces and urine mixes with
the disinfectant.
5. The doctor already knows what is
wrong with you
Most doctors automatically match
symptoms with malaria and typhoid,
and so they rush diagnosis without
taking basic tests. The patients, who
are most times too scared to disagree
with the doctor, just agree with the
diagnostics and eventually go back
when the treatment does not cater to
the problem. Sometimes, you cannot
blame them as giving Nigerian
patients’ room to express themselves
fully could encourage them to over
exaggerate their symptoms.
6. You must buy your meds from the
hospital
If you are visiting a doctor in a
Nigerian hospital, be assured that you
will have to buy the medication
prescribed from the hospital’s
pharmacy. Even when the patient
requests to have the medication listed
so they can purchase it on their own,
the hospital would refuse. This is
possibly a way for them to make extra
money.
7. Treatments are overpriced
The bill you receive, usually, is quite
pricey compared to the actual cost of
the medication given to you and
resources used on you. Even worse,
the cost of being admitted is so high
that some hotel rooms are leased for
less. Again, 8 out of 10 hospital bills
contain errors, so you may want to
check your bill carefully.
Add yours!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment