THE video shows a nurse motivating a patient to get better for the sake of her kids.
But people on social media say this is abuse!
In the video, the nurse tells the patient she can’t use a nappy all the time and should try using the bedpan.
Apparently the video, in which they speak in Zulu, was taken by another patient at St Mary’s Hospital in Pinetown, KZN.
The nurse says: “You can’t sleep like this. If you are a woman you need to move. Stand up like a mother whose children are waiting for her at home. Move!”
As the nurse helps the patient with the nappy, she tells her to lift up her backside.
While some viewers on social media are furious about the nurse’s behaviour, others say she was only motivating the patient.
Zinhle Mkhize wrote: “The nurse was not abusing her. She was encouraging her to try her best.”
Khanki Ramatsebe wrote: “She’s not hired to encourage and ridicule mothers but to take care of patients.”
KZN Health spokesman Samuel Mkhwanazi said they strongly disapprove of the nurse’s behaviour, which if it really happened, would be breaking the health care professionals’ code of conduct. “Hospital management is dealing with this matter according to the department’s disciplinary procedures.”
He said the incident took place on Monday.
In the video, it seems as if the nurse is speaking harshly to the patient. She also seems to be changing the patient’s nappy without drawing the bedside curtains to respect her privacy.
“Such behaviour is against the Batho Pele principles and codes governing health professionals,” said Mkhwanazi.
