Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Isolate the SOS ‘doctor’ saga from the nursing profession

A nurse working in Nairobi is due to face criminal charges as a result of posing as a medical doctor while he is not one. The nurse had been hired as a medical superintendent for a health facility run by an NGO. He had plied his trade for a number of years before he was finally discovered.

Fortunately, there have not been any cases of medical negligence filed against him. The health facility’s administration says that they did not know that the nurse had lied about his medical qualifications. They added that they had invested a lot in the nurse by sponsoring him to attend CME courses locally and abroad to enhance his medical skills.


The Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board nabbed him, one, for operating as a doctor without requisite training and, two, for operating with forged university qualification documents. That the board decided to take the matter to the police for prosecution means they have a strong case against the man. We do not want to speculate on the likely outcome of the matter before court. As for the guilt or innocence of the accused, only a court of law can determine.
In any case it was wrong in the first place for the nurse to present forged documents while seeking employment. That, in our opinion is something he must provide answers for. 


However, we wish to clarify here that nursing is a very noble profession. Since the days of Florence Nightingale the nursing profession has evolved in many aspects. Currently, it is not just a certificate course in some middle level college, but institutions of higher learning have developed degree, masters and even PhD programmes in nursing. Furthermore, in most rural settings it is nurses that provide primary healthcare services to the majority of people where doctors are hard to find. There are also private clinics being run by nurses across the country with licenses from the Ministry of Health.


The impression created by the news reports on the saga of the said nurse is that nurses are not supposed to treat patients and those doing so are quacks. Nurses are empowered by law to examine patients that present themselves to them. Accordingly, in practice, the nurses are required to keep necessary treatment records for appropriate monitoring by authorities. They are obligated by law to refer those cases that they cannot handle to government referral facilities. 


While the concerned nurse battles to clear his name in court, it is important that we do not criminalise the good actions undertaken by those in the noble profession of nursing. It is also important to point out that if by treating patients, this nurse observed the nursing code of ethics, that bit is correct. However, forging documents and calling himself a doctor is itself criminal.
 

Importantly, there is no alternative to nursing when it comes to professional patient care. It is very central to any healthcare system. That aspect needs to be emphasised in a more objective way as we look at this matter contrary to what has been portrayed in the media.

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