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ADMINISTRATIVE & WORK BRIEF
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ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF


ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF FOR FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS
( Updated FEBRUARY 2003)



Introduction

1. No brief on any Organisation can be totally complete or can it cover each and every aspect or eventuality. In the following paragraphs an overview is given which is aimed not to be exhaustive but to cover, as best as I can, all the aspects that are required to orientate you and make your stay with us comfortable, educative, productive and above all, pleasant. A word of advice. Never stay in doubt. Never think that any question that you ask may embarrass us. It is better to clear your doubts and go ahead with your chores confidently than to harbour doubts and proceed hesitatingly.

The Place

2. Tirukoilur (pronounced ‘thee-rue-koee-loor’) is a small rural town in the district of Villupuram in the State of Tamilnadu in South India. It is 45minutes by road west of Villupuram, which you hit when you drive down from Chennai. East of Tirukoilur about 60 minutes by road is the temple town of Tiruvanamallai.(Check it out in the book Lonely Planet – India, pp 987) While Tirukoilur has its own three temples, the one in Tiruvanamallai has an architectural importance of its own. Basic amenities and a little more are available in Tirukoilur town itself, though a bit more variety is available in Villupuram and Tiruvanamallai. The real big place closest to us is Pondicherry, about 1 ½ hours drive from us.

The Organisation

3.
ARCOT LUTHERAN CHURCH
( The Mother Organisation)

The Right Reverend Gideon Devanesan


DANISH MISSION HOSPITAL
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO)
Wing Commander Raju Asirvadam M Sc, MBA


Senior Medical Officer(SMO)
Nursing Superintendent(NS)
Principal, School of Nursing

The total staff in this Hospital number 95.
Most of the Doctors are Christians and almost all the other staff are also Christians. All are members of the Arcot Lutheran Church.
Incidentally, this is a 140 bedded Hospital specialising in Obs & Gynae, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics and General Surgery.


Departments

4. The following are the various departments in the Hospital:-

 General Medicine
 General Surgery
 Obstetrics and Gynecology
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Dental
 Nursing
 X – ray
 Laboratory
 Pharmacy
 Patient Registration
 Cash
 Accounts
 Administration
 Maintenance
 School of Nursing
 Community Health

Administrative Authority

5. The Executive Authority rests with the CEO. However, in respect of medical matters, authority has been delegated to the SMO who should be contacted for such matters and routine Administrative Authority has been delegated to the NS who will, normally, handle such matters. Please bear in mind that all instructions given to you by the CEO will be implicitly obeyed.

Working Hours

6. All Christians are required to attend the morning Chapel Service at 8:00 AM. Thereafter, one goes for breakfast and actual work begins at 9:00 AM. The morning session ends at 1:00 PM. The lunch and rest break is till 4 PM and then the evening session begins. The evening work ends at 6:00 PM at the end of which, everybody gathers in the Chapel for the evening prayer and then disperse to their respective homes. We work on a five and a half-day week schedule. All Sundays are total holidays except for those on essential duties.

Dress

7. While we do not want you to dress formally at all times, kindly refrain from being over casual in your attire. For example, shorts by gentlemen and ladies or tight T-shirts by ladies, are not to be worn within the Hospital premises during working hours. Pants/jeans worn by ladies are acceptable during the day. Short dresses/skirts/wrap-ons can be worn in the evenings, after working hours and for dinner. Hawaiian slippers are not to be worn in the Hospital campus; leather sandals/shoes/heels are preferred. (Experience has shown that somehow this misinformation exists that while in your country you move around in sandals/shoes/heels, in India, one can move around anywhere and everywhere in Hawaiian slippers and in shorts - even at work. This is not so. We, in this Hospital, frown down on such attire.) If you have a traditional costume particular to your country, please bring it along. It would widen our perspectives about your culture.

Movement within the Hospital

8. You have the freedom to move anywhere within the Hospital premises and have free access to any department provided it does not interfere with the established on-going work in that department. You are required to initially acquaint yourself with the department you are allotted to and then try to fit in with the existing system. If, however, you do find something amiss or you find difficulty in fitting into the system please bring your observations/problems to the SMO, the NS and, finally, the CEO and we will sort them out. The Student Nurses Hostel is Out of Bounds for all male visitors except when specifically granted permission to be there.

Accommodation

9. We do our best to make your living places as comfortable as we can. Because of our financial constraints we cannot give you all the comforts that you are used to back home. What we have, we give you. Kindly adjust and adapt yourselves to what has been provided. However, if there is something that is really making your life miserable, please feel free to tell the matter to the NS: she will certainly look into the matter. A maid/boy would be allotted to you for sweeping, swabbing, cleaning up your place and washing of your clothes and, generally, doing small errands for you. Please pay Rupees 250:00 per month to that person.

Messing

10. The Messing and Accommodation charges are Rupees 200:00 per person, per day (this would be less than US per day for accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner). This amount is to be paid into the Hospital Accounts Section at the beginning of each month of your stay. Food will be served at the CEO’s Bungalow. The timings, which you are kindly requested to adhere to as otherwise it would upset the CEO’s schedules, are as follows:-

 Breakfast : 8:15 AM to 8:45 AM
 Lunch : 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM
 Dinner : 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Morning Tea will be delivered to your places at 6:00 AM and evening tea will be delivered at 3:30 PM.

The cuisine will not be very exotic due to our limitations of expertise in that area! However, we will do our best to cater for your tastes as far as is possible. We will serve some continental food according to our capabilities but you are advised to be prepared for the intake of Indian dishes as well. If you really cannot palate or stomach the Indian preparations, please let us know immediately so that we avoid giving you such food. Please feel free to suggest items of menu that will not be overly expensive and fits into our daily budget. Also, if you are so inclined and keen to share your culinary attributes with us, you are free to enter the kitchen and prepare the meal. The Hospital has a Cafeteria that caters for pure Indian snacks, coffee and tea. You are welcome to make use of that facility outside the meal timings. All our Doctors make use of that facility.

Entertainment

11. Apart from a few movie halls screening movies in the local language, there are no city type entertainment facilities in this place. The daily newspaper is available in the office. However, if you do want your own paper, please pay in advance for the month in the Accounts section and we will ensure that your paper is home delivered. This would cost you around Rupees 80/- per month.

Transport

12. It is regretted that the Hospital will not be able to provide you a vehicle for all your movements, as we do not have that many vehicles. The town is about 2 kilometers away. Buses stop outside the Hospital gate and can be boarded to go into town. The return trip can be made either by bus or by catching a three-wheeler auto-rickshaw which will drop you at the Hospital for about Rupees 20:00. To go outstation, buses can be caught to those destinations from Tirukoilur town.

Communication

13. The postal address of this Hospital is:

Danish Mission Hospital
Tirukoilur – 605 757
Villupuram Dist, South India

The phone numbers are:

04153 STD Code to be dialed to access Tirukoilur from Out Station
252337 Hospital Main Office
252356 CEO’s residence

The e – mail address is dmhosp@satyam.net.in You can receive emergency e-mails only on the computer, as the Hospital has bought the time for its own use. There are internet cafes in town which you can use for sending or receiving your personal messages.

Conclusion

14. The above has been put on paper to orientate you about this Hospital during your stay with us. It is not meant to cause any apprehensions in anybody. Emphasis is to be kindly given to the spirit rather than the letter of the write up. The aim is to make your stay with us as pleasant and memorable as possible. Having gone through the above it is hoped that you are more prepared on what to expect from this Hospital. We will try our best to give you a home away from home. We need your co-operation to be successful. Learn about us, our culture, our behaviour patterns, our ethos and whatever else you can pick out from us. The people here are simple folk, most of them having lived in this campus for generations. They have been born here, grown up here and have sought employment in the same Hospital. This is their world. You will be entering it and you will be made welcome. May you go back richer in experience and having a better understanding of a people different from you.

HAVE A NICE, ENJOYABLE AND A MEMORABLE STAY!!
S.R.Asirvadam
Wing Commander
Chief Executive Officer
Danish Mission Hospital

WORK BRIEF
WORK BRIEF FOR FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS
(UPDATED FEBRUARY 2003)

Introduction

At the outset, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you, on behalf of the Hospital and myself, to this Institution. You have volunteered your services to this Hospital and we appreciate that and are grateful to you. While we, certainly, will benefit from your expertise and experience, you will also go back richer in experience and with a greater awareness of how things are done and results achieved under tremendous limitations of resources of all kinds and constraints that you are probably unused to. This is assured.

Working Parameters

Due to the existing laws of the land and to ensure that you do not become liable for any unfortunate incidents, you will be working in tandem with the appropriate staff at the level you are making an entry into this Hospital. That is to say, that if you are a Doctor, then you will work with our Doctors, if a nurse then with our nurses etc. Irrespective of the level of your experience and qualifications you are not permitted to act independently due to the reasons explained. Any initiative that you desire to take must be communicated, unambiguously, to the person you are working alongwith so that he/she takes responsibility for all happenings. This, however, does not mean that you be a passive spectator to the happenings in the Hospital and hesitate to actively participate in our activities. This would defeat the very purpose of your being here. At the end of your stay here you must be re-assured that you did contribute in some measure to the Hospital. Therefore do not hesitate to physically participate in the on going activities and come forward with any suggestions.

You will function directly under your Department Head. Your duties, specific to your department, will be briefed to you and you are to adhere strictly to that briefing. All instructions given by that person will be followed. If you do feel strongly about something you are to bring it to the notice of the Senior Medical Officer/Nursing Superintendent and, finally, to the CEO.

Do remember that the working environment is totally different to what you are used to in your country. My intention of having you here is to give this Hospital the best of both our worlds. There is no ideal situation, but we must together aim to achieve a near ideal one. I expect you to wholeheartedly get involved with the work that we do and give us the benefit of what you have learnt in your profession in your country.

In the initial stages of your stay take a little time to study and get used to our systems. Then begin working together with our staff. Thereafter any contributions/suggestions that you wish to make will be most appreciated provided that it can be implemented/dovetailed into the existing systems. The bottom line is that you must gain from us as much as we gain from you.

Conclusion

Your experience and expertise is necessary for our improvement. Bearing in mind our constraints and our limitations you have the liberty to suggest changes in the existing systems. Work with us, learn from us, teach us and let us together make a better Hospital. I wish you all the best during your stay here and may it be a very fruitful one for all of us.