Operations at the Kitwe Central Hospital (KCH) were yesterday paralysed after medical staff staged a sit-in- protest over alleged accusations of negligence by Kitwe District Commissioner Elias Kamanga.
The nurses, who gathered at the KCH orchard around 07:00 hours, demanded that Mr Kamanga addresses them and apologises for accusing them of negligence when they allegedly failed to attend to a 35-year- old woman who delivered in the vehicle on Tuesday within the KCH premises.
[pullquote]“The woman came very late when she was in her final stage of the pregnancy known as Spontaneous Virginal Delivery (SVD), why did the couple wait for that long to come to the hospital.[/pullquote]
The irate nurses complained that Mr Kamanga accused them of negligence when it was the woman’s fault because she went to the hospital late when her pregnancy was in the final stage.
They said it is not fair that members of the public were always blaming them without getting their side of the story.
The nurses said despite the woman arriving late at the hospital, she was assisted to deliver by a nurse from the pediatric department who later informed the Mid-wife on the third floor at KCH.
“The woman came very late when she was in her final stage of the pregnancy known as Spontaneous Virginal Delivery (SVD), why did the couple wait for that long to come to the hospital.
“We have been defamed because there was no negligence on our part so we want the District Commissioner to apologise and ZNBC to balance its reporting because we can not even move freely as we are being jeered after the incident which we should not be blamed for,” they complained.
The nurses said the woman was even lucky that she delivered in a vehicle at the hospital otherwise she could have delivered even on the way to the hospital and further wondered why she did not go to Ndeke clinic which was near her home.
And Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ) General Secretary Lewis Mukosha and KCH spokesperson Grey Chishimba confirmed the protests.
Mr Mukosha accused Mr Kamanga of alarming the situation and indicated that the protest had the blessing of the union.
But Mr Kamanga said he did not accuse the nurses of being negligent and that there was no way he could rush to accusing the nurses of being negligent when investigations were on going.
And wife of Chingola mayor Cuthbert Kalebaila, Charity who witnesses the incident when the woman was giving birth in the car accused the nurses of negligence.
Mrs Kalebaila said one of the nurses answered her rudely when she went to inform her about the woman’s predicament.
She said it was unfortunate that some nurses had a bad attitude towards patients.
So, who is attending to the patients as they protest? What will they say if someone dies because they were busy protesting instead of looking after the patients.
Pa zed paliba drama.. and nurses, teachers and bankers think they are the %#it
These nurses must be ashamed. same day but a difference of about two (2) hours some other expecting woman was chased away from low cost before this unfortunate woman gave birth in a vehicle. These are facts, what do you say GC?
This so called nurses are very useless & stupid they think are untouchtables busy with their tea breaks,gosping about their manfriends wihout taking care of the sickones.I almost beat one nurse at Lewanika when i lost my daugther.This so called nurses they dont care especially when you look like you dont have money,mawe kibutata!!!!!!!!!!!
And… maybe they are not worth that increase???
This is what happens when hospitals have no Emergency rooms, not every nurse is maternity trained. ER is geared is for such cases.
I can support them on this one, although our friends are not generaly friendly to patients
I think these nurses don’t know that they have a noble obligation to anyone seeking health attention whether late or early. It does not matter whether someone came in late or early. They have a duty to attend to that person. In western countries where we work that is felony and you are bound to give a very good explanation. Detailed Incident report and the risk the pregnant mother and the newly born child faced. Muletekanya
You are right BN, our Nurses have stopped thinking!
Good move by our nurses!! Elias kamanga is a fool and needs to apologies for being so foolish. soldier on our nurses. Let this fool apologies before u can go back to work.
You are one big fool how do support such when people are dying as they are having this same protest.if they can do this now what will stop them from not attending to the sick without a camera .if i had a way i would actually fire the lot.Stupidity of its worst kind.
Kapyongo you are foolish & stupid no wonder you dont care about your wife & children,
i rest my case
Nowadays not every nurse is a nurse at heart, some of ’em don’t even deserve to be called nurses; they should have been in the Police Service. so Mrs. Kalebaila should not be so unfair as do judge the conduct & attitude of nurses based on her personal encounter with one rude nurse…
iwe wanjibila amano…
thats my comment…
find something else to say.. LOL!
well said mwana, most of these nurses have just find themselves in that career due to lack of employment.
Very foolish nurses and not surprising why Zambia has a high prevalence of death by negligence of the medical staff. A patient is at your door step of the hospital first priority as per the “Nightingale honour” is to care for the patient first and then questions later. They even have the audacity to go on strike on the basis that they feel defamed by Mr Kamanga – please! Fire the whole lot as it is evident the patients are coping by themselves. Attitudes of these nurses who think they are a law on themselves instead of being service providers must change by showing them the door so that we employ those that want to serve professionally and with high ethics of nursing
I’m surprised that they even have the audacity to protest and blame the woman for arriving at the hospital late! That just shows how unprofessional they are and what a rotten attitude they have. Late or not they are supposed to serve the patient, period! I don’t think people complain about nurses because of this one incident. We’ve all had to deal with their rudeness at one point or another so people’s complaints are legitimate. Protesting indicates that they are not even willing to admit that their services fall short of the expected standards, in which case we cannot expect any improvement from them because they are in denial. How dare they try to excuse the inexcusable! I would fire the lot! Shame on them!
I think our Nurses at Kitwe Central Hospital are forgetting their call, to help mankind. Its is sad that they are now saying the patient was at fault because she went in the late stages of labour, is it not them who turn away our expectant mothers for reasons of going too early to the Hospital when labour has not progressed? So fyonse fibi kanshi?
Even though this incident was an unfortunate one, I support the nurses. Our appointed politicians are very quick to rush to the media and condemn someone especially medical personnel before establishing facts. Who remembers the baby swapping incidence at KCH and how quickly politicians were to condem the hospital and calling for nurses to be fired when the story turned out to be unfounded. Giving birth in cars buses, taxis, trains, pavements, hospital grounds is common every where including the Western world when the woman misjudges her contractions and leaves it late to go to go to the hospital on time. Indeed why by pass Ndeke clinic which is equipped for deliveries and go to the hospital unless she was told that it was going to be a difficult birth but it turned out to be an SVD.
Ba Rm ,really our nurses have bad attitudes towards patiens whether we go late or early. Maybe they have forgotten their job description or they are just not nurses inside their hearts ,its not too late they can quit and join the traffic section of the police where you don’t need a heart flesh to do your job nicely. ALA.
I totally agree with you on this one.Some Nurses might make a mistake in their profession or work but its not all of them.The Nurse have given their story and We want to hear from the couple as well.The woman who was pregnant knew when she was due and at 35 in Zambia this is not her first pregnancy Iam sure and stand to be corrected,she might be a mother already.Normally Zambian women are so careful and particular when they are pregnant in terms of preparation for their delivery.I remember a friend complaining to me sometime back when he came to me to help him with a KR50, that his wife could not agree to use the KR50 he had given her for transport when she would be due,to use other pressing needs that was affecting him. The couple lacked foresight and planning that really embarrassed…
Whilst in Zambian at Kitwe Central Hospital’s PASCO when I took work mate there for treatment,came a lady who brought a sick child and the child was very weak that she was just being lifted from a CBU vehicle to the fast track clinic.The couple had let their daughter at home getting worsen and only decided to take to the hospital when it was very late and expected the doctors/nurses to perform a miracle.The father of the child works for CBU and according the mother of the sick child they had taken their child to CBU clinic were she was administered some drugs to take and their were waiting to go back to the CBU clinic for reviews meanwhile their child’s condition was worsening.This is just one of the many issues or times that we blame our over worked medical workers when we have failed…
Nurses have to accept that they have a few bad eggs. This is the plain truth. I cannot understand why they want to appear clean when they know that this is true. Negligience is rife in UTH, Ndola Central, Kitwe Central and many other hospitals. the reason the couple rushed to Kitwe Central is probably because they knew they would not get help. Nurses, get your act together.
My sisters, i know you are angered, but let’s learn from mistakes we make. Where praise is due we do give it and the people praised are happy. Likewise, when it comes to blaming, people blamed should not just react, instead, sit down go through what people are talking about and learn something. Let us work together to better our living. God bless all medical personnel.
I will be at sizzlers today(KCH bar and swimming pool) thats where i get my one night stands from
All these nurses who where busy protesting instead taking care of the sick should with immediate effect be transfered to other health centers around kitwe.
I agree with the nurses on this one; the tendency for many Zambians is to seek medical help at the last minute then blame the health workers when they are not treated quickly. Labour (giving birth) is a long process so why wait until its so late. The men are usually to blame trying to finnish their beer at the local pub while the poor wife is calling to be taken to the hospital
That Soldier beat up a nurse at UTH for being lazy and rude.They must change the altitude or people will lose confidence in them.THERE WAS A PROTEST AT cHAWAM CLINIC protect same misbehaving of nurses.Why do nt they change
The nurses are wrong and very, in fact when they were informed by pediatric nurse, did the midwifery rush and treat it as an emergence coming with all necessary requirements covering the place whilst attending to her. Thus want we want as the public they should go little mail. she was late so what, thus within hospital bounds en coz u a in your white uniforms u cant run and panic, stupid fools. We a not interested in that sheet, even saying she should ve gone to Ndeke clinic so that they lazy out. The nurse are suppose to be sharp, quick to act and make decisions than doctors and we should see situations were they even tell the doctors i think its this. These pipo some are rude, u know when u a in pain admitted maybe sited or not on the bed sleeping, she will bypass with that coldness.
Ine inka pononapo chimo chi Nasi
iwe,
as weak as you are..
bakakunyesha ba nasi..
first wait until you get as strong as a dollar, then go and confront them.
To start with the chief executive must resign becuase he has over stayed and he can run the institution propery.The excuse being given that the woman was to blame is not correct.Amafumo yalema at any time and un expectedly that is why nurses are thier to wait for such incidences.The thing to be done is to punish the nurses for the following reasons
1.Not attending to a pregnant woman because she late
2.For protesting instead of them working
3.Stealing government funds for not having worked for 2 hrs during the protest
4.Charged for murder for any patient who should have died during the protest
Who are accused of negligence here ? Is it all the nurses or only those that were working on that day? Why are we seeing a big number of nurses protesting? It is true that you are very bad and lazzzzzie, given chance to avoid work you would very fast avoid it. Why can’t you ask the DC to appologise whilst working? I stay in Kitwe and i had my father in law in Hospital for about three weeks he had a prostate growth which the hard working DR. Jonathan Mulenga the Consultant sorted out but some of the nurses attending to my father in law were very bad. We have very few hard working nurses at KCH.
These nurses are not even ashamed, who even allowed them to protest. Shame on them. Its is there duty to save the live of this woman and the child. These are not professional nurses. Shame!!!!!!!!!!.
The powers that be should not even tolerate this nonsense.
The DC should not apologise because the have just prove a point of their negligence and heartlessness they are .How do they blame the couple of going late to the hospital life is full of uncertainties one can start off early and end up having a breakdown .
nurses remember that you are health workers. this is not a garage but a hospital. it is very very disapointing after a very thought ful evaluation of your conditions by the first lady you have continued behaving badly. if the patient came late you still had a duty to attend to her and educate her later. this is a very bad way of purnishing your fellow woman and mother.
Can some displinary action be instituted on these protesting nurses and i agree with one of the bloggers that Mr Kamanga should not apologise. I almost slapped this rude Tonga nurse a year ago at Kasama general hospital as i could not accept the way she was talking to one of the patients
IT’S SHOCKING TO READ AND SEE WHAT THE NOBLE PROFFESSION OF NURSING HAS BECOME.
ALL OF YOU NURSES WHO WERE PROTESTING MUST BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES.WHY DID YOU JOIN THE NOBLE PROEFFESSION?YOU SHOULD HAVE BECOME UNDERTAKERS OR ABATOIR ATTENDANTS OR BETTER BUTCHERS AT A LOCAL BUTCHERY.YOU ARE HEARTLESS WITH HEARTS OF STONES.
EVEN BY DEMANDING THE DC TO APOLOGISE IS SIGN DISRESPECTFUL AND NOT HONOURING THOSE IN AUTHORITY.
THE GENERAL NURSING COUNCIL MUST IMMEDIATELY LOOK INTO THE BEHAVIOUR OF NURSES AT KITWE CENTRAL HOSPITAL ESPECIALLY THIS BATCH THAT WAS PROTESTING.
IT’S SHOCKING TO READ AND SEE WHAT THE NOBLE PROFFESSION OF NURSING HAS BECOME.
ALL OF YOU NURSES WHO WERE PROTESTING MUST BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES.WHY DID YOU JOIN THE NOBLE PROEFFESSION?
YOU SHOULD HAVE BECOME UNDERTAKERS OR ABATOIR ATTENDANTS OR BETTER BUTCHERS AT A LOCAL BUTCHERY.YOU ARE HEARTLESS WITH HEARTS OF STONES.
EVEN BY DEMANDING THE DC TO APOLOGISE IS SIGN DISRESPECT AND NOT HONOURING THOSE IN AUTHORITY.
THE GENERAL NURSING COUNCIL MUST IMMEDIATELY LOOK INTO THE BEHAVIOUR OF NURSES AT KITWE CENTRAL HOSPITAL ESPECIALLY THIS HEARTLESS BUNCH THAT WAS PROTESTING.
I URGE THE RELATIVES OF THE WOMAN TO LODGE A COMPLAINT WITH THE GENERAL NURSING COUNCIL AGAINST THE NURSES WHO REFUSED TO ATTEND TO THE PATIENT.
Fire all of them.
weither a patient is late or early care should be given regardless. Thats wat you employed to do. Questions should be done wen patient is stable. I work as a nurse in the diaspora thats a serious case and most of nurses would have lost their licences.
This is not the first time nurses have been cited for negligence particularly at this hospital. Some have been beaten even in the near past. Their protest just shows you how rude they are even to defenceless patients.
this is a very good move. Let everyone else change their attitudes at their work places. The tuma arrogant bankers, i idiooots at RATSA. Nurses please continue teaching the general public a lesson.
Professional prostitutes protesting- shameless bithches.
hahaha..kaya
Thetruth is nurses have the right to complain, Mr Kamanga reaction and comment was very unprofessional and one may doubt if he has got the ability to lead. On the other hand nurses @ KCH should have not abandoned the patients because one ? leader(DC) accused them of negligence. Please dont think like dunderheads in making decissions and commets ,Eg chuma, juju, chipata bomber and other senceless individuals and yet they think they are intelligent
….and these are obviously nurses who even go to church and attend prayer meetings,..and pray like no man’s business,…..!
And this is what they resort to?!?!?
I’m afraid for my country,…. VERY AFRAID!
Why protest?!?!? This is so childish! These are secondary school manners. My goodness,… When a client complains about me, i suck it up, over a beer after hours and tell myself i will make sure such complaints wont come again, whether the client was right or wrong,….!!
Then again, strange happenings in Kitwe of late!!
And the patients who have remained while they are protesting?!?! Do they deserve this for the “mistake” of ONE patient!?!?!
There are two sides to every story. Nurses have given their side also. The only unfortunate thing about their action is abandoning patients during their protest. They vowed to save and protect life. The time they were protesting who was looking after the patients they were supposed to look after? Wasn’t there another way of telling their side of the story? Why not engage their union to seek audience with the DC over his comments? The fact is there are some bad eggs in their midst. It is these bad eggs that is tainting their image.
Whether she arrived late or not is not the issue. The fact is the she arrived. This sad incident happened within the grounds of the hospital and as far as the story goes, she was denied the professional attention she needed by those paid to give it. It would mow seem like the idea was to “learn“ her a lesson for getting to the hospital late. DC Kamanga has nothing to apologise for. The nurses on duty are an absolute disgrace to the profession. They really should be fired.
Nsimba were do you think from, yes she arived but who was suppose to guess that someone is coming late and in active labour, you expect a midwive to be at the gate waiting for the unknown or at the car part, shallow understanding.Ask people who were there and you will discover that she was helped by a nurse from a near by department. you are there just passing gass without thinking.
She was attended to in the car ! The baby was born before she could get out of the car !
34 Understand this ! That hospital has the labour ward on the third floor ! Patients who come to deliver there have to be transported to the labour ward via a lift by the help of porters ! Preferably these patients should be accompanied by a nurse from the clinic which referred them .
On reaching the labour ward , the patients are now attended to by the hospital nurses stationed in labour ward !
34 Further understand this ! The government has established a referral system ! Pregnant women are encouraged to go to their nearest clinic for normal labour ! In the event that a woman needs to go to the hospital , an ambulance is provided with an accompanying nurse ! The nurse informs the hospital by cell phone about the patient ( or by two way radio ) , so that the hospital will prepare for that patient ! In this case the woman would have probably delivered in the ambulance ( assuming the clinic decided to refer her ) !
What happened to this woman was unfortunate but the root cause was that for some reason , she bypassed her nearest clinic !
Without addressing the root cause of a problem , you will be ” BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE ” as somebody would say and the problem will never go…
So does it mean u become less human when u become a nurse? No one was denied a chance to go to school and become a doctor or nurse so hold on to your grudges haters, that moron bypassed ndeke clinic, ndeke village hospital so as to go and cause a scene at KCH, what the hell was she doing at home and where was the ***** who impregnated her? If health workers are not working why are we having reductions in HIV prevalence, TB incident and reductions in heath related deaths? Check your facts before you shoot your mouths. I suggest u go back to school and learn mathematics as it will help u reason.
IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE THE WOMAN ARRIVED IN THE LATE PART OF THE SECOND STAGE OF LABOUR ! IN OTHER WORDS THE BABY WAS ABOUT TO BE BORN WHEN SHE ARRIVED ! SO EVEN IF SHE HAD MADE IT OUT OF THE CAR , SHE WOULD HAVE DELIVERED BEFORE ARRIVING IN THE LABOUR WARD ( WHICH IS ON THE THIRD FLOOR BY THE WAY ) ! SO DESPITE THEIR SHORTCOMINGS, THIS INCIDENT CANNOT BE BLAMED ON THE NURSES AT THE HOSPITAL ! THAT IS SHALLOW THINKING ! THE REACTION FROM SOME PEOPLE IS FROM OLD EXPERIENCES ! I THINK THERE IS TROUBLE BREWING DEEPER THAN THIS INCIDENT ALONE !
IF WE DON’T LEARN FROM THIS INCIDENT,IT IS BOUND TO REPEAT IT SELF.THE POINT IS NOT TO PUT BLAME ON THE NURSES INVOLVED.IT IS THE ATTITUDE OF THE NURESES.IF THIS WOMAN WAS HAVING A PRECIPITATE TYPE OF LABOUR ,THEN THERE WAS LITTLE THE NURSES COULD HAVE DONE,BUT THEIR INITIAL REACTION BY BLAMING THE POOR WOMAN ,THEN DEMONSTRTING SHOWS THAT THEY ARE A BUNCH OF HEARTLESS BEINGS
I really sympathize with Nurses. I they are trying their level best under difficult conditions.
My heart has always been with them.
There may be one/two misplaced ones but lets not generalize.
A great pity negative comments were made against health workers before getting both sides of the incident. I urge the public to also be responsible for their health by timely having their conditions attended to instead of waiting far too long and finally blame the system for such unfortunate and shameful outcomes. In this case, my heart goes out to the nurses and other health workers implicated in the matter that was not their own making initially. We can only hope the baby is healthy; that is primary. Let’s all work together for a healthy nation.
THE SIDE OF THE STORY FROM THE HEARTLESS NURSES WAS THAT THEY REFUSED TO ATTEND THE PATIENT AND THEN ABANDONED THE PATIENTS TO STAGE A PROTEST AGAINST THE DC.SO WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO HEAR.IF PATIENTS DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR HEALTH IT’S EITHER THE HEALTH WORKERS HAVE NOT DONE THE HEALTH EDUCATION OR IT IS NON EXISTENT.STOP ENCOURAGING WRONG BEHAVIOUR PLEASE.THE PUBLIC HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH FROM HEALTH WORKERS WHO TREAT US LIKE A MECHANIC ATTENDING TO A CAR.
39.1 PEOPLE LIKE YOU HAVE A PRECONCIEVED NEGATIVE VIEW TOWARDS ALL NURSES ! HOWEVER FOR THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT , THERE WAS NO NEGLIGENCE BY HOSPITAL NURSES AS ALLEDGED BY THE DC ! THE ROOT CAUSE IS DEEPER ! PERHAPS IT ALSO INCLUDES NOT EDUCATING THE WOMAN ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF GOING TO THE HOSPITAL PROMPTLY WHEN IN LABOUR IN THE ANTE NATAL CLINIC ! THE SYSTEM ALSO LACKS READY AVAILABILITY OF AMBULANCES FOR WOMEN IN LABOUR ! IT IS ALWAYS RISKY FOR THEM NOT TO TRAVEL IN AMBULANCES ! THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS WHICH SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO AVOID REPEAT INCIDENTS ! BY THE WAY , REMEMBER THE GRAPHIC PICTURES IN THE POST WHICH ANGERED RB ? THIS IS BASICALLY A REPEAT OF THAT TYPE OF SITUATION ! THAT ONE DID NOT EVEN HAVE A CAR TO DELIVER IN ! SHE WAS OUTSIDE !!!!!!!!!
This shows the quality of some nurses we have in Zambia. These protesting nurses’ level of thinking is below par. Its not about the woman coming in late, its about whether or not the nurses were on hand to render help to the victim. Its foolish of these nurses to start defending themselves & protesting there by exposing there arrogance and stupidity, no wonder they are beaten by irrate citizens because of the way they think. Their so called union officials who blessed this protest must also be ashamed. Imagine the woman who came was their relative, what would they have done. Please learn to be PROACTIVE & not REACTIVE and stop showing your arrogance in public. Going forward, the D.C & the mayor’s wife shouldnt apologise, the nurses/ mid wives on duty should be transferred & shud…
IN SHORT , WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY THAT SIMPLY BLAMING THE NURSES IS THE EASY WAY OUT ! BUT THE EASY WAY OUT WILL NEVER SOLVE THE PROBLEM ! IT IS TOO SIMPLISTIC AND DOES NOT ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES ! THE PROBLEM WILL PERSIST AND SIMILAR INCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN !