My impression of the typical Maltese patient and their family.

Although all patients are vulnerable the Maltese patient can be very demanding. The Maltese are very health concious when unwell, the tend to contact their family Doctor and frequently contact specialist for minor injuries and illnesses and call out for ambulances for the slightest things. In spite of their reliance on health services their religious tradition often plays a major role in response to injury and illness commonly in the older adults and in chronic/incurable situation. In most cases the Maltese patient and rely on Doctors a lot, they diminish the use of community services and the nursing profession due to lack of trust. They tend to abuse available facilities e.g. a dying cancer patient will be encouraged to die at home as it will benefit the patient and the can die with dignity a Maltese family will opt for the patient to die in a hospital, if offered one pair gloves the will want a box etc. However, when a illness occurs the family support is strong, the help each other get through hard times, they show up for the ill patient and provide them with prayer, love and support which I guess is always good for a patient to have.

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I found it easier to communicate with patients and their in A&E than ITU for the obvious reasons. The patients and families that I came across dealt with their illness/injury in different ways, some where demanding, some where angry and going through the stages of grief, some were grateful for assisting and caring for them and others just needed support and someone to listen to. As a foreigner I wasn't always welcomed with open arms however, I did as much as I could to be involved, to answer questions and used my basic Maltese language I learnt to communicate with patients I cared for.