Government agencies are currently investigating the incident between a public school teacher and a nurse inside the Cebu Provincial Hospital (also known in Balamban District Hospital) in Balamban, Cebu.
The 25-year-old nurse of Toledo City has accused the teacher and her husband of verbally and physically abusing her while on duty in the nurse station of the hospital.
In a video that went viral online, the teacher went inside the nurse station to confront the nurse-on-duty for not attending to their medical needs. She complained about the backflow of blood in her intravenous fluid tube.
The video caught the teacher shouting angrily at the nurse, and the latter even claimed that the former poked her face and shoulder.
Tension got worse when the patient’s husband approached the nurse and forcibly took the ID hanging from a lanyard around her neck. The nurse was seen crying in the video when the guard intervened to pacify the situation.
Dr. Rene Catan, Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief, said that they are currently investigating the incident, which was already reported to Balamban Police Precinct and logged it in their blotter report.
Catan said that “we cannot blame the nurse because of what the patient allegedly did” but noted that the nurse was also confrontational and refused to identify herself when the patient ask for her name.
Cebu Provincial Council for the Welfare of Children (PCWC) has also sent an officer to look into the matter since the health worker was a female.
In an interview by SunStar Cebu, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, chair of the PCWC, said that she’s “a little worried as to how the incident led to the patient allegedly verbally and physically abusing the nurse.”
Department of Education (DepEd) in Cebu will also make its own probe.
“The division office will also conduct a parallel investigation into that matter,” said Dr. Rhea Mar Angtud, Deped Cebu Superintendent, in an interview over Balitang Bisdak. “We want to find out if there are any lapses.”
Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) has also sent its officers to the Balamban hospital to investigate and extend assistance to the nurse. In a statement, the nursing organization said that it is ‘outraged’ by the assault on the nurse and “denounces in the strongest terms all forms of workplace violence against nurses.”
The teacher and her husband refused to grant media interviews but said that if the nurse “will file a case, we’ll answer it.”
PNA Cebu chapter reported that the nurse “allegedly harassed in the video who went viral in social media is now in good condition and recovering from traumatic experience.”
“She will pursue a good fight in aid with the legal assistance offered by Atty. Rey Cris Panugaling & colleagues and with the constant guidance of PNA Cebu Chapter.” [With reports from SunStar and Cebu Daily News]