A nurse who assaulted a baby’s mother at a hospital at Okahandja has pleaded guilty and paid an admission of guilt fine of N$300.
A police source confirmed this yesterday, saying the nurse claimed she was not briefed on how to react in instances like that.
“The nurse paid an admission of deed and the case is now closed,” the source said.
They added that the case opened against the baby’s mother, Tusnelde Matheus (30), has not yet been withdrawn as she did not plead guilty.
The Namibian contacted several nursing schools to find out how students are trained to communicate with patients.
University of Namibia (Unam) spokesperson Simon Namesho says there is no justification, under either Unam’s training or the nursing profession’s ethical code, for a nurse to respond to a patient or family member with physical aggression.
He says the institution’s nursing curriculum builds conflict-handling and interpersonal competence into several compulsory modules across its nursing programme, including managing one’s own emotions in demanding situations and to think critically in healthcare scenarios.
“Unam’s training is explicit that a nurse must report a conflict or difficult interaction with a patient or family member to a supervisor through the proper clinical channels,” he says.
I-Care Health Institute head of nursing department in Windhoek Christine Ong’ondo says students are taught how to communicate with patients in the first semesters of their first and second years.
She says students are taught to speak to patients normally and that, if patients do not comply, the matter should be reported to supervisors rather than taking matters into their own hands.
“The Okahandja fight was on a personal level. It is not normal for a nurse to behave in such a manner,” she says.
Former minister of health and social services Bernard Haufiku yesterday described the incident as disappointing, saying a healthcare professional should never be physical with patients.
“It goes beyond the call. We are trained to take care of patients no matter what the circumstances may be. This is uncalled for,” he said.
He said a healthcare professional who fights with a patient is “not okay”, adding that there are better ways of dealing with situations.
Haufiku urged healthcare providers to always conduct themselves in a professional manner by maintaining their cool and to never get emotional.
The assault allegedly came after the nurse, only known by her last name as Nehale, asked the 11-month-old patient’s mother to give her a chair to assist other patients.
Matheus allegedly leaned on her baby’s bed to breastfeed the baby. Nehale then found her leaning on the bed and shouted at her, saying she was not allowed to sit on the bed.
Matheus and her husband, Petrus Nghidengwa, tried to explain why Matheus was leaning on the bed, but Nehale allegedly did not listen and kept shouting.
She allegedly told Matheus that the chair did not belong to her and that she did not bring it from home before leaving the room, Nghidengwa says.
Nehale assaulted Matheus later when another nurse came into the room to ask how they were doing.
Matheus allegedly told the nurse she was not okay because of the way Nehale spoke to her earlier.
Nehale allegedly overheard the conversation and entered the room threatening to beat Matheus for badmouthing her.
Nehale then assaulted and bit Matheus.
Matheus yesterday said her child has since been discharged and is at home recovering.
