Working at a teaching hospital has been an amazing experience so far and if I get the option to choose all over again, I have a conviction that I will choose a teaching hospital because I get to learn about and encounter a vast number of medical cases. Be that as it may, the lives of medical professionals are always at jeopardy courtesy of agitated patient relatives. Also, some patients themselve can get very hostile towards health care professionals and these are just a few of the many challenges medical professionals face whenever they step out to save lives.
It was a regular Monday morning at the children's emergency unit last week. The needs and requirements of already admitted children were being tended to as usual. I prayed that no child should be involved in an emergency situation but there was one–Freya(fake name).
Freya, who was barely conscious, was rushed into the unit and all hands were on deck. While some people struggled to get her history and relevant information from Freya’s father, the doctors were actively trying to resuscitate Freya. Without a proper background check and assessment, a patient cannot adequately be attended to because one cannot tell where the problem is stemming from. Is it hereditary? Congenital? caused by medication, food, water or what not?
Assisted by a doctor, I was actively trying to get enough information from Freya’s father who wasn't even complying and in split seconds, the doctor was bent sideways with her hands on her face. She was given the type of slap that leaves fingerprints on one's face. This was our cue to leave the man as he wasn't ready to comply. Baffled by this action, some people scolded Freya’s father but he wasn't having any of it.
The doctors on the other hand were still trying to resuscitate Freya who was in cardiac failure and also had a severe case of bronchial pneumonia. These were severe cases for a child who was turning two years old the next there so all hands were literally on deck.
In such cases, oxygen is required to complement the patient’s breathing but when we requested for the oxygen, Freya’s father said he had spent all of his money planning for Freya’s birthdays and had no money to spend. All this while, we were still actively trying to stabilize Freya when Freya’s father ran to his car and returned with a machete which he intended to use on the oblivious doctor who was still working on Freya. Some other patient relatives who saw what he was carrying raised an alarm and this was when the security men came running. It was a serious struggle getting this man to let go of his weapon. So many innocent bystanders who tried to dissolve the ‘fight’ felt the wrath of his fist as he struggled. Eventually, his weapon was collected and he was tamed. It was after he was tamed that he understood the gravity of the situation and hurried to get oxygen for his kid but unfortunately, he was twenty minutes too late.
My question however is, how do you expect to bring an emergency case to the hospital and when asked to provide requirements like oxygen, you come up with the excuse that you do not have money? Also, why try to aggravate the medical practitioners who are trying to save the life of your child? What if he had successfully used the machete on the doctor, what then would have happened to his child and the doctor? I know that in such moments, we may find it hard to control our emotions because the life of our loved one is at stake but if you can't trust the professionals to do their job, why bring your child to them in the first place?
After I had narrowly escaped a beating from an angry patient relative who felt the doctors and nurses were not doing enough to resuscitate his baby girl, I came face to face with a patient who was annoyed at the system. Annoyed that he was at a hospital. Annoyed at life. Annoyed that he didn't have enough funds to get the treatment he deserved. And who conveniently passed this aggression on to me; who was just trying to ensure that his vital signs were stable. It gets really crazy sometimes but looking at these situations from both perspectives, both parties, the patients or patient relatives and medical practitioners, usually have valid reasons for their actions. In Freya’s case, the doctors went on a three day strike because one of their colleagues was assaulted but if we're being honest, the strike didn't do any good.
An associate professor and a consultant gave some of us who cared to listen, some good advice. Advice that I shall cling to very dearly throughout the course of my service as a nurse. In the meantime, I need to take up karate lessons because if the doctor didn't take the slap that day, I properly would have been the victim and to avoid being a victim I need to learn self-defence. Hayaa!
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