By Sihle Mavuso
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health says it will place a nurse at Durban’s King Dinuzulu Hospital on precautionary suspension after a video circulating on social media appeared to show her striking a male patient during a heated exchange.
The department said on Wednesday that a full internal investigation would be conducted.
The 45-second video, which does not provide the full context of what led to the confrontation, shows the nurse appearing to strike or poke the patient on the forehead while admonishing him.
“I do not work only for you, you hear me. I do not work for you,” she tells the patient in isiZulu, appearing to indicate that she is responsible for other patients in the ward and is not there to attend only to his needs.
“Just leave me alone,” she says before turning to another patient who is recording the exchange and asking: “Why are you shooting (filming) me?”
The words spoken by the male patient during the exchange are largely inaudible, making it unclear what prompted the confrontation or whether he had made a particular request of the nurse.
The nurse then returns to a trolley, where she appears to continue working with medication and patient files.
Later in the clip, she again tells the patient words to the effect that she is there to work, appearing to reiterate that she has other patients to attend to.
She then again admonishes the person recording the incident.
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The male patient later tells the nurse that he intends to report her, to which she responds that he is free to do so, before continuing to attend to another patient.
The undated clip ends shortly afterwards.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Department of Health condemned the incident and said the nurse would be placed on precautionary suspension with immediate effect, pending an investigation.
“The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has noted with serious concern a video circulating on social media depicting a nurse physically assaulting a patient at King Dinuzulu Hospital.
“The Department unequivocally condemns this behaviour in the strongest possible terms.
“The conduct displayed in the video is completely unacceptable, violates the core values of our healthcare system, and will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” the department said.
“The nurse in question will be placed on precautionary suspension with immediate effect, pending a full and thorough internal investigation into the matter.
“The video appears to show the nurse striking the patient on the face while making inappropriate remarks.
“We confirm that we are investigating this specific conduct as a matter of urgency,” the department said.
It said “corporal punishment” had no place in its healthcare facilities and that patients were entitled to be treated with dignity, respect and care.
“We assure the public that we are taking this incident seriously and will ensure that appropriate disciplinary action is taken once the investigation is concluded,” it added.
