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Doctors, nurses share joy of Ramadan at hospitals
Only a few minutes after they sit down at the iftar (fast-breaking dinner) table, doctors and nurses have to leave the table to care for patients, who often visit hospitals at this time for complaints related to eating too much, high blood pressure and heart problems. The emergency services of some hospitals in İstanbul attend to around 700 patients between iftar and suhoor (pre-dawn meal) time.
Doctors and nurses are, however, happy to share the joy of Ramadan with patients and their family members. “We place long tables in the hospital's dining hall where we break the day's fast with doctors, nurses, medical attendants and relatives of patients receiving medical care in our hospital. We believe such an atmosphere is most suitable to the spirit of the holy month,” noted Fatma Türkeri, a deputy chief physician at the Bağcılar State Hospital. “Sometimes the patients' relatives share their fruit juice or pide with us,” added Türkeri.
Murat Yerliyurt, a doctor at Bakırköy Sadi Konuk Research and Teaching Hospital, said they had expected a decrease in the number of patients visiting the hospital during the daytime during Ramadan, but that was not the case. According to Yılmaz Aydın, doctors at the hospital have difficulty finding a proper time to break their fasts due to the increased number of patients they treat during the holy month.
“A few days ago, I had to carry out a cardiac massage on one of my patients just before the time for the pre-dawn meal ended. I spent around half an hour and had to fast the whole day without drinking a sip of water,” Yılmaz remarked.
Doctors' biggest complaint about patients during Ramadan is their bad temper. “They are generally aggressive. And so are their relatives accompanying them to the hospital. They shout at everyone when faced with the smallest problem. We have to be sure that they are calm before we can treat them,” said Gülsade Özkan, a nurse with five years' professional experience.
Relatives of patients are unhappy to be away from their families during the holy month, and miss breaking the day's fast with their loved ones. “I have been accompanying my mother-in-law to the hospital for nearly 40 days. This is the first time I have spent Ramadan away from my house,” said Munise Ülker.
According to Ülker, she is lucky because the hospital provides patients' relatives with pre-dawn and fast-breaking meals. “If this was not the case, we would have to eat outside every day, which we probably could not afford. Meals cooked in the hospital are delicious,” she said.
Sultan İtişken, who has been staying at a hospital accompanying her mother for more than a week, is happy to have made lots of friends there. “Ramadan has sent its blessings to us even though we are in the hospital. People who come to visit their relatives bring us desserts. We eat them chatting in the garden of the hospital. I have already made lots of friends here,” İtişken noted.
Cooks at the hospitals are pleased to see smiles on the faces of patients and their relatives after having eaten the meals they have cooked. “We work as a team of 10 cooks. A supplication made for us by patients or their relatives makes our tiredness worthwhile. I am not able to host guests in my house during the holy month, but host around 500 people here every day,” stated Hacer Karataş.
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