Unlike most of his counterparts, MPF-RBR Chief Nurse Aaron Gacho is in no hurry to troop to greener pastures overseas.
Aaron is the first chief nurse in the facility since 2005 and he says he is proud of his achievement, after serving only two years as staff nurse.
“I feel proud because (it means) the little things I do get noticed,” he noted. Aaron, who finished Nursing from the City College of Manila, said that his biggest challenge in his current post is dealing with people, specially his staff.
“Of course they have different temperaments, and different outlooks and you have to learn to deal with that in a professional manner,” he explained.
His biggest frustration as a nurse, however, is helping patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder where the patient refuses to eat.
“It frustrates me because whatever you do, whatever you say, their mind is closed to explanation and help,” he added.
He is most happy about his post, however, because it gives him the opportunity to interact with a lot of different people, both patients and colleagues, who impart valuable lessons to him, be they personal or professional.
This is why he disclosed that he has no immediate plans to go abroad. The idea has always crossed his mind, since he passed the Nursing Board in 2006, but he wants to be a seasoned nurse before he seeks greener pastures, he said.
“MPF-RBR is really my focus for the moment. I have no plans of going anywhere at the present,” Aaron stressed.
He said he plans to stick around although psychiatric nursing is proving to be more challenging compared to, say, medical nursing. In addition, he said that prior to his job at MPF-RBR, his exposure to psychiatry was limited to a three week rotation at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) as a nursing student. Aaron recalled that at first, he found it difficult to adjust because comparing the two, medical nursing is more straightforward.
“Because in the medical practice, you just test the patient and when the test results come out, that’s it you give the treatment. In contrast, in psychiatry, it’s difficult to know what’s on the patient’s mind,” he observed.
However, he has single adjusted and is dealing with his next career challenge: the high turnover of the staff in the institution. Aaron explained that the coming and going of staff nurses once their contract terminates entails costly training, especially because sometimes having perpetual freshmen on the floor results in mistakes that might not have occurred had there been more senior staff around.
Thus he advised his staff: “Based on my experience, if you have doubts or are not sure of-something, ask and confirm, especially for nurses."
