Nurses at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital UCTH Protest Arrest of Colleagues Following Patient’s Death
Nurses at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in Calabar staged a protest yesterday in response to the arrest of three of their colleagues by the Nigeria Police Force. The arrests followed the death of a patient whose details were reportedly not properly recorded by the nurses attending to them.
In a show of solidarity, about 200 nurses gathered and marched to the hospital’s main gate, where they barricaded the entrance, effectively blocking vehicular and pedestrian access to and from the facility.
According to reports, the three nurses were detained after the police accused them of negligence for failing to provide adequate information regarding the deceased patient. The police alleged that the nurses did not properly document or record vital data about the patient during admission.
An anonymous nurse explained the incident, saying, “Yesterday, a patient was brought to the hospital by a good Samaritan, who also made some payments towards the patient’s treatment before leaving. Sadly, the patient passed away before dawn. When the patient’s relatives arrived at the hospital, they discovered that the deceased’s SIM card was missing.”
The family members then demanded that the nurses either return the missing SIM card or provide contact details of the good Samaritan. When the nurses were unable to furnish this information, the family involved the police, who subsequently arrested three nurses who had cared for the patient.
In response to the arrests, the nurses organized a mass march to the Cross River State Police Command headquarters, where they demanded the immediate release of their detained colleagues.
Attempts to obtain comments from the hospital management were unsuccessful, as calls to the office of UCTH’s Chief Medical Director, Professor Ikpeme, went unanswered. Meanwhile, many patients arriving for treatment found themselves unable to enter the hospital due to the blockade.
The situation escalated when relatives of another deceased patient attempted to force their way into the hospital morgue to deposit their loved one’s remains. This confrontation led to physical altercations, with some relatives reportedly being slapped by angry nurses trying to maintain order.
In a telephone interview, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Irene Ugbo criticized the nurses for negligence, stating, “How could trained nurses admit a patient without collecting essential information from the good Samaritan who brought them? Such behavior is unethical.”
However, at the time of this report, the police PPRO confirmed that the Commissioner of Police had ordered the release of the arrested nurses.
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