– GPHC says nursing administration investigating

NYESHA Hamilton, the 21-year-old who recently delivered on the floor of the Georgetown Hospital resulting in her baby having a fractured skull, is calling on the hospital administration and by extension the Guyana Nursing Council to take disciplinary action against those responsible.On August 21, 2016, Hamilton gave birth to her second child on the floor of the Maternity Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital after she had repeatedly told the nurses on duty that she was in labour, but was made to walk to the Delivery Room in the absence of a wheelchair. It was while she was being forced to walk from a Prenatal Room to the Delivery Room that she stooped and delivered the baby in the process. The infant suffered a fractured skull after hitting the floor.

“I told them over and over I was ready, that the baby was coming, but I was still forced to walk to the Delivery Room, why, because they didn’t have a wheelchair. Someone has to be held responsible,” Hamilton said. She wants to see disciplinary action taken against the nurses with whom she had come into direct contact in the lead- up to and during her delivery.

The 21-year-old said no other pregnant woman acquiring the services of the GPHC’s Maternity Unit should have to endure such an experience.

Hamilton, who resides at Lot 223 Paradise Housing Scheme on the East Coast of Demerara, said she is also considering taking legal action against the public hospital for the injuries her child sustained, and the pain and embarrassment the hospital caused her.

“Before, they had mentioned to me that my son was experiencing internal bleeding, but when I met with [doctor] on Tuesday [last], he said they may have made a mistake and it was just external bleeding and a fractured skull. He said it will heal up within six weeks,” Hamilton said.

“I am not satisfied with that explanation [that the injuries will heal in six weeks], because he really can’t say what will happen in the long-run,” she reasoned.

Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital, Michael Khan, on Saturday told the Guyana Chronicle that the nursing administration has launched an investigation and is expected to deliver a report on its findings early next week.

Khan said when the matter was brought to his attention, he with both Hamilton and the neurosurgeon, Dr Amarnauth Dukhi, and it was explained that the child was not in danger.

The outcome of the investigation will determine the next step to be taken by the hospital administration.

When the Guyana Chronicle broke this story last week, Executive Director of the Guyana Nurses Association (GNA), Grace Bond, had said the incident should have never happened.

Bond said while the Midwives Association is known for conducting workshops to enhance the skills of midwives, it was not a matter of skill, but of attitude.
“To me it is more about attitude and not the skill of the midwife that is in question here. The whole attitude of nurses is unbecoming,” she contended.

Bond said nurses and midwives must do more for their clients. “Many times when I am speaking to nurses, when I go to the classroom and I speak with nurses and even here at the GNA, I would always remind them that they must put themselves in the client’s place. If they are a patient, what they would want for the nurse to say or do for them, how would they like to be treated?”

The GNA Executive Director is also of the opinion that stern action should be taken against nurses who fail to execute their mandates in keeping with the Florence Nightingale Pledge.