President of the T&T Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA), Gwendolyn Loobie-Snaggs, says nurses need to be aware of their conduct and be properly educated when taking their break period during duty at the nation’s hospitals.
Loobie-Snaggs made the comment in the wake of a photograph posted on social media in which two nurses are seen sleeping while a patient complained of having post-natal pains.
The woman, who posted on social media, said she spent a night in pain without any assistance from the nursing staff at the San Fernando General Hospital.
The patient (name withheld) who delivered her baby by C-section wrote that this was: “Our hardworking nurses at the San Fernando General Hospital. These nurses supposed to be taking care of women who just had C-section. I was in so much pain.
“As I was coughing and feeling how my cut was bleeding I cry that whole night in pain. All the other nurses was very nice just these two.”
In a brief interview yesterday, Loobie-Snaggs said she did not see the photograph but it was not the practice of nurses to sleep during the shift.
However, Loobie-Snaggs said nurses worked a ten-hour shift in the night and it was negotiated that they could get a break.
“When you get a break you can go in the doctor’s room but can’t go in a deep sleep where you can’t hear the patients calling. You can sit on your desk and put down your head,” she said. She said the nurses needed remedial classes or to be more educated.
“Nurses have to be aware of their conduct. Patients can take pictures with their cellphones. You can’t tell patients not to use their phones.”
“They need to reform their attitude in dealing with the public. They need to take a look at it,” she added.
When contacted Health Minister Terence Deyalsingh declined comment, saying there were heads of departments who should comment on issues like that.
Attempts to contact CEO Anil Gosine and Alexander Sinanan, chairman of the South-West Regional Health Authority, proved futile.