In this era, sharing a needle is a matter of life and death and a nurse of all people should know better.
But three patients in the Okavango delta, Botswana, were last week faced with a bleak prospect of HIV/ Aids infection among other diseases after a careless nurse injected them with one syringe.
When she ran out of needles during a mobile clinic visit to the delta, Given Raboile, a nurse at Letsholathebe Clinic in Maun is alleged to have decided to resort to using her last needle on the last three patient.
Speaking in an interview with The Voice, Letsholathebe Hospital Superintendent, Dr Maxwell Mungisi confirmed to this publication that the hospital was investigating allegations that one of their nurses had failed to follow procedure when attending patients during their last week’s visit to the delta.
“We are not taking the matter lightly and I have asked all stakeholders to give me a detailed report. Once investigations are complete a disciplinary action will be taken against the said nurse.” Dr. Mungisi said.
Although he refused to go into details of what really transpired, Mungisi explained that it was not advisable for a nurse to use the same needle on more than one patient because there was a chance of disease transfer from one patient to another.
Meanwhile a doctor has been sent back to the delta to screen the affected patients for all possible diseases.
” We will have to screen them for all possible diseases and infections and after the results we will know what to do,” Mungisi Said.
According to a source who was part of the mobile clinic visit to the delta the patients were simple people who knew nothing about their safety and didn’t object to being injected with the same needle.
“The matter was only brought to one of the mobile clinic supervisors attention after one of the camp managers noticed that the nurse had rinsed the needle with water three times to inject three different patients”.
The affected patients could not be reached for a comment while the nurse refused to comment on the matter.
The Voice BW
