Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA National Nurses Association (Tanna) has railed at a nurse for allegedly slapping a woman who delivered a baby on the floor in a waiting room at Mazwi Health Centre, Rukwa Region.
The nurse, Ms Valentina Kinyanga, who doubles as a midwife, assaulted the woman recently.
According to Tanna, Ms Kinyanga has violated the code of conduct and tarnished image of the profession in the country, noting the ethics committee will look into the matter and take action.
Last year, the fifth phase government issued 500m/- for the expansion and renovation of the health facility to improve service delivery as it serves patients from as far as Songwe Region.
During a press briefing held in municipal council on Friday, Tanna Vice-President Ramadhan Mgoo confirmed the incident, saying it was true “Ms Kinyanga confessed to Tanna to have slapped the woman.”
Already her employer, Sumbawanga Municipal Council Director Jacob Mtalitinya has taken disciplinary action by suspending her from service over her alleged misconduct.
“Tanna is not appeased with her arbitrary action as it is against professional ethics… It is true that Ms Kinyanga has confessed to have assaulted the woman. We condemn such misconduct. We appeal to all nurses and midwives across the country to abide by their professional ethics while attending to patients. There are many such cases, but they are not reported,” noted Mr Mgoo, who is also a senior nurse.
He further stressed that the Council of Nurses and Midwives of which Tanna was a member would look into Ms Kinyanga’s case.
“It will be an easy task for the council bearing in mind that she has already admitted to have misbehaved and that she feels remorse,” he added.
Narrating the story, Mr Mgoo said on that night Ms Kinyanga was alone on duty attending to 21 expectant women who were in the waiting room.
“She helped eight of them to deliver their babies and she was overwhelmed by the workload,” he explained.
“But attending to a big number of expectant women and being overwhelmed by work does not justify what she did. She has tarnished the image of our profession.”
He noted that all nurses and midwives across the country should abide by professional ethics and their code of conduct, while attending to patients.
He explained that the pregnant woman did not deliver her baby in the maternity ward, but she and other expectant women were kept in the waiting room and they were told by Ms Kinyanga that whoever felt labour pains should go and deliver on a bed in the maternity ward.
Mr Mgoo said reports had it that the expectant woman could not hold on and she consequently delivered in the waiting room, which irritated Ms Kinyanga who slapped her.
The mother and her baby are in good health at the health facility.
