PHO to aid Balamban nurse in assault case

The nurse who got assaulted by a female patient and her husband at the Cebu Provincial Hospital-Balamban branch last November 14 will file a complaint against them, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said yesterday.

This came as PHO chief Dr. Rene Catan confirmed that they have plans to hire additional nurses to address the personnel shortage in district hospitals in the light of the incident that was recorded on video.

“What transpired during our meeting (last Wednesday afternoon) was that the nurse decided to elevate the case. But the PHO will not give any comments about the matter. Nevertheless, we will support the nurse,” Dr. Catan said.

“Kon ang ratio of nurses to patients nato di maayo, ang serbisyo mo-suffer (If the ratio of nurses to patients isn’t good, the services will suffer),” he said.

He said the ideal ratio is one nurse to every 10 patients, but in the case of Balamban District Hospital where the incident was recorded on video, only two nurses were available to tend to 45 patients.

“Since there were many patients and few nurses, the nurses were unable to handle the sudden volume of patients at Balamban,” Catan said.

Dr. Catan said the average number of admissions at the Balamban District Hospital was less than 70 patients, and on that day, it nearly doubled to 120 patients.

“Our recruitment for nurses is slow, which resulted in personnel being overworked. I ask for the patients’ consideration since there are times they will not be attended immediately. But we are doing our best,” Dr. Catan said.

He said they will hire more doctors and nurses for all 16 district and provincial hospitals with their P1.4-billion budget next year.

Dr. Catan said nurses will receive an initial standard salary of P25,000.

“We hope that before the end of Governor Davide’s term, we will be able to improve our hospitals so patients will not have to go to the city to be treated,” he said.