Work of an in-patient department. (Hospitals).

Hospital is an institution whose primary function is to provide in-patient services, diagnostic and therapeutic, for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and non-surgical. In Russia hospitals are divided into general, teaching and research, specialized (infection, children) and incorporated hospitals.

In-patient clinics have different departments: therapeutic, surgical, cardiological, oncological and others. The main structural units of any hospital are reception ward, physician’s room, wards, laboratories, X-ray room, medical treatment and dressing room, physiotherapy room and others.

When patients are admitted to the hospital they are received by a nurse on duty at the reception ward first of all. Those patients who are to be hospitalized have already received the direction from the polyclinic.

On admission the nurse on duty fills in patient’s case histories in which she writes down their names, age, place of work, occupation, address and the initial diagnosis made by a doctor at the polyclinic. Then a doctor on duty examines a hospitalized patients.

At the in-patient departments of a hospital life begins early in the morning. The nurses on duty take the patients’ temperature, give them injections and all the prescribed remedies indicated by the ward doctors.

At about 9 o’clock in the morning the doctors begin the daily rounds of the wards during which they examine all the patients. After the medical examination the doctors administer the patients different procedures.

When the course of treatment is over and the patient’s condition is normal he is discharged from the hospital. Then a patient is cared for at the district polyclinic.

Medical curative institutions in Russia.

There is a great variety of types of medical institutions to protect the health of people in Russia. The most wide spread types of them are hospitals, polyclinics and dispensaries.

Polyclinics are medical institutions that provide treatment by doctors of various specialities, follow-up services for chronic patients, diagnostics of diseases, therapy and prophylaxis. They are centres of curative and prophylactic work for a definite administrative part of any town or city.

Every polyclinic has different specialists: therapeutists, surgeon, otolaryngologist, oculist, dermatologist and others. The out-patient clinics work from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.. Specialists and district doctors see patients in consulting rooms during reception hours. After the reception hours district doctors also pay calls.

The out-patient departments have registry, consulting rooms, chemical laboratories, X-ray and physiotherapy sections, rooms for functional diagnostics and dressing.

Hospitals are curative institutions whose primary function is to provide in-patient services, diagnostic and therapeutic, for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and non-surgical. In Russia hospitals are divided into general, teaching and research, specialized (infection, children) and incorporated hospitals.

In-patient clinics have different departments: therapeutic, surgical, cardiological, oncological and others. The main structural units of any hospital are reception ward, physician’s room, wards, laboratories, X-ray room, medical treatment and dressing room, physiotherapy room and others.

Dispensaries are among the basic public health establishments in our country. These are institutions for prophylaxis and administration of specialized medical aid in a number of diseases. In Russia there are skin-and-veneral, oncological, neuropsychiatric and other dispensaries.

The dispensaries are in a position to administer both in- and out-patient aid. They concentrate their attention on the early detection of certain diseases, early therapy and advisory aid to other curative and prophylactic institutions. Dispensaries co-operate with polyclinics and hospitals.

Emergency medicine.

Emergency medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of conditions resulting from trauma or sudden illness. The main aims of this branch of medicine are to make a quick and correct diagnosis, to give the first aid and to stabilize the patient’s condition. Then care is transferred to the primary physician or to a specialist.

In case of an accident or sudden severe illnesses (e.g.: fractures, burns, bleeding or shock) calls are made to the First Aid Station which is on duty all day round.

The F.A.S. has many ambulances equipped with everything necessary for giving first aid and making a diagnosis. The ambulances carry artificial respiration apparatuses, different medicines (painkillers, tonics), dressings, first aid instruments (pincers, syringes), sets of splints and stretchers. There are special ambulances equipped with everything necessary for reanimation of the organism.

The main thing in the work of the ambulance doctor is to make a correct diagnosis quickly. The ambulance doctor must have a deep knowledge of emergency surgery, toxicology, emergency therapy, obstetrics and gynecology, because he must give the patient a proper aid on the spot.

There are two types of First Aid Kits: the unit type and the cabinet type. The unit type kits contain first aid materials (adhesive and bandage compresses, gauze, tourniquet, scissors and some medicines) arranged in cases containing 16, 24 or 32 units. These types of kits serve for general purposes. Cabinet kits are made for a variety of uses and range in size from pocket versions to large industrial kits. Their content may vary to suit the particular first aid needs. Cabinet kits contain mostly fist aid items to be used for more than a single treatment.