http://www.mauritiustimes.com/050506sherlock.htm
Nurses assaulted<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O
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There we go again! This time it is nurses that are either being threatened or assaulted in our hospitals by some patients and their relatives. Some time back, it was a doctor who had to undergo the fury of undisciplined visitors to the hospital and now it is the women in white who have had to bear the brunt of disgruntled persons. When will patients and their relatives or people in general learn that civil servants like nurses, doctors, teachers or even policemen are there to help and promote their education or health and not to be used as punching balls whenever something goes wrong?<O> </O>
These days have been very trying days for everybody at the hospitals because of the chikungunya disease which has brought more than double the number of patients running for medical care and medicines at the hospitals. And, according to what has appeared in the press regarding the various complaints nurses have been voicing, it does not seem that the number of health officers has been increased to meet the urgency of the chikungunya situation. On the contrary, speaking to the press, their union has spelled out the shortcomings of the service both relating to pay, leave, conditions of work and the unavailability of equipments. <O></O>
It is not very clear whether all the complaints have been examined or are being examined, and whether the authorities are determined to improve working conditions in the hospitals which are pushing about 25% of nurses to seek relief in emigration. On the other hand, considering the enormous sums spent by the government on health and welfare and the hospital infrastructure, and the determination of the minister to give value for money, there is no doubt that there is a lot of room for improving the service. Apart from the unhygienic conditions and noisy atmosphere prevailing around the different hospitals which need immediate improvement, the growing number of patients, especially when contagious diseases like bird flu and chikungunya threaten, clearly shows that urgent measures have to be taken to produce job satisfaction and prevent unruly patients from riding roughshod on established principles. <O></O>
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Nurses assaulted<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O
> </O>There we go again! This time it is nurses that are either being threatened or assaulted in our hospitals by some patients and their relatives. Some time back, it was a doctor who had to undergo the fury of undisciplined visitors to the hospital and now it is the women in white who have had to bear the brunt of disgruntled persons. When will patients and their relatives or people in general learn that civil servants like nurses, doctors, teachers or even policemen are there to help and promote their education or health and not to be used as punching balls whenever something goes wrong?<O
> </O>These days have been very trying days for everybody at the hospitals because of the chikungunya disease which has brought more than double the number of patients running for medical care and medicines at the hospitals. And, according to what has appeared in the press regarding the various complaints nurses have been voicing, it does not seem that the number of health officers has been increased to meet the urgency of the chikungunya situation. On the contrary, speaking to the press, their union has spelled out the shortcomings of the service both relating to pay, leave, conditions of work and the unavailability of equipments. <O
></O>It is not very clear whether all the complaints have been examined or are being examined, and whether the authorities are determined to improve working conditions in the hospitals which are pushing about 25% of nurses to seek relief in emigration. On the other hand, considering the enormous sums spent by the government on health and welfare and the hospital infrastructure, and the determination of the minister to give value for money, there is no doubt that there is a lot of room for improving the service. Apart from the unhygienic conditions and noisy atmosphere prevailing around the different hospitals which need immediate improvement, the growing number of patients, especially when contagious diseases like bird flu and chikungunya threaten, clearly shows that urgent measures have to be taken to produce job satisfaction and prevent unruly patients from riding roughshod on established principles. <O
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