Death of patient in Nakuru blamed on nurse's lack of co-operation

 

Nakuru: Rift Valley General Hospital has blamed the death of a patient admitted on Saturday night on the duty nurse.

Medical Superintendent John Murima said instead of informing any other doctor to attend to the victim, the nurse decided to wait for one who was operating on another patient in the theatre.

"The nurse should have informed another doctor to attend to the patient because we normally have four doctors attending to patients every night. Any of the other doctors could have helped the patient," he said.

Twenty-year-old John Ogano was rushed to the hospital after he was reportedly attacked by gangsters who left him with serious wounds in the neck and chest. He is said to have bled profusely and been in a lot of pain by the time he was admitted, but no one attended to him.

Dr Murima dismissed allegations by the victim's family that the nurse in Ward 7 failed to help him because he was dirty. However, Murima also pointed to the possibility of miscommunication between health workers during Mr Ogano's admission.

"There were internal weaknesses somewhere as the doctor who was to attend to the patient was in theater," said Murima.

But Ogano's family maintained that the nurse refused to pay attention to him, saying he was dirty. His sister, Rebecca Moraa, said the nurse did not even give her brother any drugs to relieve his pain save for a drip that was administered in the emergency room.

"My brother was writhing in pain when we took him to hospital. He was also bleeding a lot. Instead of saving his life, the nurse refused to attend to him, saying she could not handle a dirty patient," Ms Moraa told The Standard yesterday.

Cold water

She even claimed the nurse ejected them from the ward on Saturday night. When they came back the following morning, the nurse told them to clean the patient. The water provided was cold.

"As we cleaned him outside the ward, my brother asked for a drink of water. He died even before we could hand him the glass," she said.

Ogano was first taken to Mother Kevins Hospital in Kaptembwo where he was given first aid before being sent to the referral hospital at around 9pm.

Murima also castigated the nurse for asking the family to clean the victim.

"It is unethical for a healthcare worker to ask a person with no medical skills to handle a patient in a hospital, more so those seeking emergency services," he said.

He said they were investigating the incident to establish exactly what happened between the time the patient was taken in and the time he died.

"Preliminary investigations show there was a challenge with our communication when the patient was being admitted. But more investigations are underway to establish what transpired in the ward," said Murima.