PNA denounces verbal, physical abuse on nurse
The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) has expressed its dismay and outrage over the incident involving a nurse who was verbally and physically abused at the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Balamban, Cebu.
"The PNA is outraged by the assault of a colleague working in a hospital in Cebu and denounces in the strongest terms all forms of workplace violence against nurses," the statement read.
Despite the nurses' imperfections and the patient's dissatisfactions in catering their needs, PNA believed that what happened based on the video is unjust and disrespectful.
"We respect the rights of patients and understand that they have unique concerns but not at the expense of the dignity of nurses and our safety. Assuming our nurses commit mistakes, rebukes, and reprimands are the very sort of behavior that we would expect from patient and/or patient's relatives who are dissatisfied of our performance", they said.
"But clearly, the patient and her relative, as shown in the video, have over stepped the bounds of what can be considered reasonableness of their actions. We, nurses, are trained to meet with acquiescence harsh words, insults and indignities from patients. But, in this case, no reasonable person could be expected to endure it," they added.
Fleur Cereño Villarin, who claimed to be the daughter of the lady who maltreated the nurse in the video, posted on her Facebook account and narrated the whole incident that happened.
"Kini nga video, wala ni nagsugod sa sinugdanan. Mag-thank you pa gani mi kada hatod og tambal sa mga nurse. Naay daghang witness sa nahitabo. And to this man nga nag-upload ani (video), we know you! This is cyber-bullying!" Villarin said.
The Provincial Health Office is currently conducting an investigation on the incident.
PNA-Cebu Chapter President Dr. Joseph Stephen Descallar is appealing to the government to hopefully have the ideal ratio of nurses to its patients.
He had said that most government nurses are overworked and underpaid because the ratio of patients to nurses does not match.
"The PNA takes this as a serious offense against all of us, nurses, and we will support our nurse in its quest for justice," the PNA statement said.