Hochfeld nurse investigated

A male nurse who was allegedly drunk on duty at the Otjozondu Clinic in the Hochfeld area on Monday has been transferred to another facility. The nurse allegedly quarrelled with patients who accused him of being drunk after he was found in a local shebeen. During the heated argument, the nurse is said to have rushed into the clinic’s pharmacy, where he tried to overdose on malaria tablets before locking himself inside. A paramedic from a local manganese mine was called in to help resuscitate the nurse, who was stationed at Otjizondu Clinic to serve a population of about 500 people, including farmers and mine employees. Yesterday, Health Ministry spokesperson Ester Paulus told Namibian Sun that the nurse has been transferred to an unidentified state clinic where he will now work under supervision. Paulus said an internal investigation is under way to get to the bottom of the allegations, after which he might be suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. According to Paulus, the allegations are of a serious nature and the investigation will be carried by the nurse’s immediate supervisors from the Otjozondjupa Regional Health Directorate at Otjiwarongo. “We have received the allegations and concerns from the community, as we try to establish what transpired on the day. However an immediate decision was taken that the nurse be transferred to a bigger clinic, where he will work under supervision, for the duration of the internal investigation against him,” Paulus said. On Monday, Health Minister Richard Kamwi expressed shock over the incident, saying such behaviour by State medical staff will not be tolerated. According to a witness who spoke to Namibian Sun, the nurse became involved in an argument with patients, who got fed up because this was allegedly not the first time the nurse was drunk on duty. One of patients on the day of the incident was a 13-year-old child who was rushed to the clinic by a school principal after he collapsed in the classroom. Upon arrival at the clinic shortly after 08:00, the nurse was nowhere to be found but he was later located at a shebeen, allegedly drinking beer. A friend of the nurse, who was in his company at the time, rushed him to the clinic where he was angrily confronted by the patients who demanded that he be locked up in a police cell because he was unprofessional and posed a danger to them. WINDHOEK FAITH SANKWASA