The Association of Resident Doctors at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, on Tuesday, embarked on a two-day warning strike from 8am Tuesday to 7:59am on Thursday, over an alleged assault on one of them by a nurse.
The doctors decision was made known in a press release signed by the association’s president, Dr. Nana Fayowole; General Secretary, Dr. Anuforo Anthony; and the Public Relations Officer, Dr. Adelaja Olasubomi.
According to them, a female doctor, identified as Dr. Oluwatosin Bello was forcefully held hostage, confined, and verbally assaulted while discharging her duty, by a senior nurse in the Female Adult Orthopaedic Ward of the hospital on June 16.
Part of the statement reads “The female house officer had gone to the said ward with her team which comprised different cadres of doctors, to carry out a procedure on the only patient in the ward at that time.
“After obtaining the patient’s consent, they requested a trolley from the nurse who pointed the trolley to them and told them to get it.
“In order not to waste time because the team already got a call from children emergency to see a patient, the house officer willingly brought the trolley.
“After the procedure, the team discarded all sharps used. They wrapped the empty kit with the drape used and kept it on the lowest shelf of the trolley and wiped the topmost part of the trolley clean and moved the trolley away from the patient’s bedside.
“They were leaving the ward when the house officer was accosted that she should go and discard the waste. The house officer was the last to leave so the nurse went to block her way asking her to go and discard the waste and when she didn’t answer, the matron locked the gate with the padlock.
“As if that was not enough, she started shouting and rained a lot of insults on her to the extent that nurses from other wards came to plead with her to stop and open the gate but she declined.
“Despite several pleas, the nurse vowed never to let the doctor out no matter who comes from Abuja. We have the video evidence of this incident. It took the effort of many people to persuade the nurse to release the doctor.”
Dr. Fayowole however call on the hospital management to come up with a document detailing the job description of all clinical staff within the next four weeks, so as to avoid future conflicts.
“The team on arrival at 4:30 pm informed the nurse on duty.