It all started when a primary seven pupil of Moroto KDA School was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after collapsing in the dormitory. Loyce Ikwalingat, a teacher in charge girls at KDA, says on arrival the nurse barked at them instead of attending to the girl.
Ikwalingat says that although the nurse attended their patient, he became intolerant when the relatives of the patient arrived. She notes the nurse was provocative and was repeatedly asking similar questions without paying attention to the response since he appeared intoxicated with alcohol.
Amina Mashaka, the mother of the girl says immediately she arrived at the hospital, the nurse started inquiring into the medical history of the girl. She notes that when she told the nurse that the girl had been diagnosed with peptic ulcers, he demanded for the medical forms and turned violent.
But Robert Turyamuijuka, the implicated nurse denies he was drunk while administering treatment to patients, saying he wouldn't have managed to save the patient if he was indeed drunk. The nurse claims that the attendants are raising the issue of drunkenness to defend their barbaric acts.
Joyce Namuli, the Acting Senior Principle Nursing Officer, says they are investigating the matter and will communicate the findings after hearing from all the parties. She notes that if her staff indeed messed up as alleged, he will be put under disciplinary action.
She appeals for tolerance from both health workers and the community. Some patients who spoke on condition of anonymity blame the nurse for being rude to patients. They claim that by the time of the pupil was rushed to the hospital, two patients including a casualty and four year child had spent hours unattended to since the nurse refused to treat them.
-URN