The practice of medicine at the service of the community should be an action recognized by all, but in these times, where aggressiveness and violence are the order of the day, on many occasions this does not happen. This was revealed by the nurses on duty at the Cipolletti Hospital, who confided to this medium that during the New Year celebrations they were attacked by different patients who sought assistance in that sector of the health center.
As Patricia, one of the nurses who works in that service, announced, following the toast for the arrival of 2023, at least five of her colleagues were beaten by people who were waiting to receive medical attention, while they used their resources to attend to an emergency. . In this context, the woman explained that the anger of the patients with the health personnel was related to the wait.
“There is a lot of demand on guard duty at the Hospital during the Holidays (firearm injuries, stab wounds, pyrotechnic burns in some children, people in a state of intoxication or under the influence of narcotics and abdominal symptoms due to food intake) , mainly because private health centers are closed or have 6 or 8 hours of waiting. It is important to say that there are no pediatricians on call either. And that New Year’s day, we are the only ones there to attend to the entire population of Cipolletti and to all the visitors who came to it,” the woman said, adding that more than 150 patients received medical attention in the first few hours. hours of 2023, not counting those who entered through ambulance calls.
Giving more details regarding what happened, the nurse pointed out that the attacks occurred when health personnel were preparing to remove an injured person from a private vehicle. It was so that while they were planning the steps to follow and while they were taking them, they were beaten by a group of people.
“You have to take into account the excesses. The more hours, the patients come from other states, either under the influence of alcohol or some drug, and that makes everything more complicated. It was so that the boys were taking a patient out of a car and began to be attacked by that person’s own relatives -who had ethyl breath-, who demanded that the nurses be faster with their work, ”he declared.
Seeking to safeguard both nurses, doctors and patients, Patricia reported that calling the police was decided, but it is not an option that they really like: “People are upset and attack you both verbally and physically, and we cannot turn on that because first of all there is the life of the patient. That’s why we decided to call the police to come take care of us, but at the same time take care of the patient and take care of the one outside, who yells at you that his is an emergency. It really becomes a complicated situation, and this is added to the great exhaustion of health personnel,” the nurse remarked and then added: “People do not know that between emergencies we take regarding 15 minutes to lower the adrenaline of the moment , because in a shift you find yourself in all kinds of situations… in a shift you are calm”.
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“Everyone gets their attention. And when patients are seen, they realize all the work we do. Some even tell you ‘the truth is that you’re outside is one thing, but you come in and it’s another world’. And that’s how it is. But everyone receives their attention and their treatment, only in due time”, summarized the professional.
Regarding the exhaustion of the staff itself, the woman stated that the entire month of December was atypical for them, due to the great demand they had, mainly due to the Qatar 2022 Soccer World Cup. “Behind each celebration for Argentina there was a lot of work for us, and the day the team became champion was no exception. At that time, many ambulance requests were made, and each time the ambulance returned, it did so with more than one patient. Fortunately nothing serious, such as burns, blows or abrasions.
“It’s not really that we like to complain or that we do a catharsis of the career we chose, because we continue to practice it with all our love, but there are many things that are out of context,” the nurse closed.
