The President, Association of Resident Doctors, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Dr Nana Fayowole, has condemned the alleged harassment of a young doctor by a senior nurse at the hospital.
This follows a viral video on social media where a young doctor at the Teaching Hospital was locked up and forced by some nurses to dispose of the waste generated during a surgical procedure.
Speaking on the incident, Dr Fayowole said it is not the responsibility of a doctor or a nurse to dispose of waste after surgery is done, he noted that the hospital can only function well with teamwork and a lack of animosity among professionals.
He said, “What transpired was that my association’s members were contacted to have a specialised form of intravenous access for a female adult in the orthopedic ward on Thursday, June 16, 2022, which they obliged. The procedure was done and they were leaving after properly discarding the sharp tools and separating other medical waste for whoever would dispose of it because an appropriate waste bin wasn’t provided where they were.
“The story, in short, is that when they were leaving, the most junior of the doctors was locked in. I was told they said she wouldn’t be allowed to leave until she disposed of the waste. We learned that the nurse on duty did that. That led to our emergency general meeting where decisions were made.
“Disposal of waste is not part of a doctor’s job description. I perform surgery from time to time and I do not think I have been asked at any time to dispose of waste generated. If a patient is coming into the ward and he or she is vomiting or defecating, I have never seen where the patient is made to pack the vomit or the faeces because he or she generated it.
“It is supposed to be teamwork. When things are done properly, nurses are supposed to be there from the beginning to the end of procedures because they will continue the care. They will administer drugs and other checks will be done by them. It is not the work of the nurses to dispose of waste but people that ought to do the needful were not allowed to do their job.
“Nobody was calling on the nurse to dispose of the waste. The team that operated didn’t ask her to dispose of the waste. It is just one doctor and a nurse that had an issue. This is just a one-off thing. We have resumed work since Thursday and we have been working fine with every other person as a team.
“Personally, I have had interactions with a couple of nurses. There is no animosity at all. I have not seen in any of our statements where we made any categorical statement that doctors are being abused by nurses. When we talk of incessant harassment, we are referring to what our members suffer across the board even from patients and patients’ relatives.
“We understand the volatility that is in the land because of hunger and poverty, but, of course, that doesn’t give anybody the right to assault anybody anywhere, not to talk of at workplace.
“Doctors and nurses are inseparable. Everyone should just know what they are supposed to do. Let everyone stick to their gun in terms of ethical expectations,” he said.
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