Ava Weintraub
Patients rest outside a medical clinic in a park-like setting. There is no air conditioning in the rooms, just open windows to keep the air circulating. Doctors visit a patient sitting in the lotus position while, down the hall, someone is being “cupped.”
This is a common sight if you live in China, but not quite so common if you are Pierce College nursing professors Dr. Melva Giles and Lucinda Bramlett.
Giles and Bramlett, who are each members of the nursing honors society Sigma Theta Tau, were invited to participate in the People to People Citizen Ambassador program in Beijing, China, hosted by the Chinese Nursing Association.
The program involved the exchange of information between Chinese and American nurses in four different areas: education, research, management and leadership. Giles was involved in the research group while Bramlett was in the education group.
Chinese medicine is practiced in China today as it has been for centuries. Deeply rooted in their culture, the Chinese “believe in the balance of the earth,” Giles said.
As an example, Giles said, “They don’t have air conditioning in their hospitals because patients may get a chill that would create an imbalance.”
Bramlett added, “They open windows to circulate the air, while in our hospitals, the windows don’t open.”
The Chinese refer to their hospitals as “Traditional Chinese Medical” centers (TCM). Acupressure, acupuncture, cupping, herbal blends and medicinal baths are typical treatments for most illnesses.
TCM treatments have become increasingly popular in the United States as an alternative to conventional Western medicine. For example, “cupping” refers to the ancient Chinese practice that uses a glass cup applied to the skin and then the pressure in the cup is reduced by suctioning out air, so that the skin is drawn into and held in the cup. This treatment, if performed on the back, can be used to reduce the symptoms of colds and pneumonia.
Giles says that while TCM is what China uses, patients are often in the hospital for months while being treated.
“The Communist system will take care of its patients for as long as it takes, until they die if needed,” she said. A typical stay can be for as little as two weeks and as long as three months.
In additional to their hospitals, China also has outpatient clinics staffed by two nurses who typically see 3,000 patients. But, this is not a Western-style clinic; the nurses use computers to keep track of their patients. According to Giles and Bramlett, if a patient doesn’t show up when scheduled, one of the nurses will go to the patient’s home to check on them.
“Here the system is different: a patient goes to a clinic, is treated and then leaves,” Giles said. “We can’t support this type of long-term care.”
Chinese nurses start at the age of 15 or 16, are “top-notch” and very competitive, according to Bramlett. Men are discouraged from entering the profession, so women comprise 95 percent of all nurses.
The Chinese government will pay for their education, but they must be the best or they’re dropped. It is mandatory that nurses retire when they are 55 years old, after which they are expected to tend to their grandchildren so that their children can work.
While Giles and Bramlett see value in Chinese medicine, they will not teach the techniques they saw.
“Absolutely not,” Giles said. “Our system is different.”
Eastern excursion ()