NAJ president has a sick sense of logic
Published:Tuesday | April 16, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
"Even fools seem wise if they keep quiet." - Proverbs 17:28
Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) president Antoinette Patterson made some erratic, irrational and most unfortunate utterances in an interview she gave recently on Nationwide in response to the industrial action taken by the doctors in the public-health sector.
It was pure aggression and vitriol when she accused some doctors of "bad mind", "professional envy", "professional terrorism" and "wickedness in high places".
Patterson began the interview by trying to make a mockery of the industrial action ('sick-out') taken by the doctors. But, even then, she only managed to reveal her ignorance of the World Health Organisation definition that health is a complete state of mental, physical, social and spiritual well-being and not just the absence of illness.
STARK IGNORANCE
Her ignorance of basic medicine was further revealed when she declared that "sick is an objective thing, it is not subjective ... because what you can see ... so, therefore, you have to take what the patients say." Wow!
She went on to declare that the absence of the doctors was not that significant because the doctors would come in the morning, do the ward rounds and leave, and the consultants were performing the duties of the lower-rank doctors. The nurses, she stated, are the ones who spent 24 hours with patients.
Throughout the interview, it was very clear that the NAJ president believes that the quality, significance and impact of the work one does should be measured primarily by the time spent in doing it. This is sheer nonsense.
Would Patterson declare the work of a surgeon who performs an emergency Caesarean section which saves the lives of mother and foetus as not that significant, simply because the surgeon spent less than 30 minutes doing surgery, and then entrusted the post-operative care of mother and baby to a lower-rank doctor and the nurses?
Patterson was quite right when she stated that every group in the health sector has a role to play. But later contradicted herself and stated, with contempt and disdain, that hospitals would close if all nurses went on sick-out, but "we can continue the services that we have now, without them [doctors]!"
The NAJ president has spoken very loud and clear. Tactfulness may not have been within her grasp. Patient care is a team effort, and a harmonious relationship between doctors and nurses is essential. The nurses need to state clearly whether they endorse the views of their president.
DAIVE FACEY
General Practitioner