18/03/2018
Christine Wa Kinyua
Who bewitched us?are we not supposed to practice more of witcraft than witchcraft or even feel bewitched?
On the matter at hand since a week or so I am left with only one conclusion, that we the nurses in Kenya have been cast on some spell ,the spell that finds us unable to reason, afraid to stand up,a spell that makes us door mats for our seniors to wipe their feet as they move on.
Let me speak about the Mary(read nurses)..... Twenty five years of service to humankind is no joke! Some have argued she should have retired by now,I choose not to go that way because its not in my place to dictate who retires and who remains, its also not in my place to point who is a better Mary than the other....
Twenty five years she has held hands, she has comforted,she has prayed,cried.....
She has emptied thousands of bed pans,sputum mugs,vomiting bowls....
She has changed all kinds of dressings, done bed baths,....she has charted,giving medications .....at this point I stop and ask if any of you has never made a mistake (some very serious but you vowed to die with it)cast the first stone!
Women who apparently are the majority of healthcare workers have been known to be more compassionate, the healers maybe because of the motherly instincts,care giving is our birth right but what happens when that right is overwhelmed?
At Marys age coupled with Diabetes and Hypertension, working at night in a ward filled up with a total of 61 patients does not only make her feet swell but can also see her drop from what I choose to call compassion fatigue!
I work in a place where the patient nurse ratio is at most 5:1.....when its overwhelming we are bound to get irritable I can only imagine the Mary's of KNH what they go through? What kind of nursing care do they even manage to give?
While handing over, the protocol is to move from from bed to bed as you introduce your colleagues ,in a ward with 61patients how is that even possible? When should they go round the whole unit and settle for the 'night running'?....
Nurses are not even known by their own names....that's when you hear client call you daktari! we are not even known for our own work....that's when you hear the food was cold,the parking is full,the doctor did not explain this to me!........we have been reduced to filling shortages across the hospital, clerks,maids,caterers, punching bags ....
I agree we are the patient s advocates and that we must do to the best of our knowledge....
As far as KNH saga is concerned,let's stop blaming the nurse and ensure things go right!.Create a system that builds an access to knowledge and workforce for safe patient care
!
Nurses translates doctors orders into action,while this is our part to play,we need to learn to question if in doubt!
The nursing council of Kenya whom I choose at this point to call the NOTHING council of Kenya should pull up their socks!
The meeting that was held to discuss the issues was attended by members of the medical board,where was the Nursing body to stand with their own?....even I would be intimidated by the kind of shouting and throwing of hands by Dr Nyikal !
Dr Magoko called the ward and demanded to know if the patient that was presented to him was indeed Nderitu?had he seen the patient prior as is the protocol he would have helped stop the mess.
When I had craniotomy,I had the surgeon visit me which made him familiar with what face he was going to meet later!
I am wondering if consent for this patient was signed and if so at what point?in the ward or in theatre?Let every nurse learn from this to resist wheeling patients to theatre before consent is signed not outside theatre but in the ward unless its an emergency.
Even as we continue to bear blames for mistakes done collectively(remember the murder in KNH?only nurses were accused)let's find our comfort below:
Called to nursing care;Isaiah 61
Night shift/long hours with nothing to show for it;Luke5:1-11
Stress as a nursing student;Mark 1
Compassion fatigue/burn out;the book of Philippians.
