Emergency Room Series - Children Not Getting Enough Care...

I had the opportunity of working in another unit sometime ago, the children’s ward. It is a sensitive unit that is very busy most times and the wards are always full and noisy.

 Children on blood, oxygen or in pain are the first to ‘greet’ you because critical cases are close to the nurse’s station. I usually don’t like how that unit looks. it’s difficult to watch children to suffer, of which most times, the illnesses could have been prevented if their parents paid a little more attention to their health.

There was this child that was brought in during the shift. He was about 2 years and came in with a fever of about 40⁰.

 He was brought in by his mother, strapped at her back. He was so weak and looked like he had lost weight. He was dehydrated and his eyes were sunken. 

Before any medication was given, he was taken to the bathroom and had cold water poured on him because of his high temperature and he started crying. His blood samples were taken for test and he had some medications pending the time his lab results would come out. He also had IV fluids to rehydrate him and soon he fell asleep. 

I had thought he was getting better until shortly after he woke up and started convulsing. He was jerking so much that he fell off the bed before we could get to him. His mother had dozed off, exhausted beside him so she didn’t know what was happening till we got to their bed. Apparently, his temperature had shot up again. He was given injections to reduce the temperature and stop the convulsion.

 His mother was so upset and was telling the poor boy to get back to health if not she would leave him and that she was tired and she had his siblings at home too who needed her. Whenever her phone rang, she would pick it and yell at the caller, trying to describe the way to the hospital. 

The lab results came out and she was told that the boy had severe infection and malaria as well. His blood level was slightly low and his electrolytes were not balanced. Unlike the emergency unit where a patient can be attended to and pay much later, the children’s unit requires an initial deposit be made.

 She was told to pay some money but she said she didn’t have money on her. She said the father of the child was on his way and when he comes, he would pay. The drugs were reviewed and the little boy was commenced on malaria injections and antibiotics. 

The mother was told to keep mopping his body with a cloth and water to keep the temperature down. She reluctantly agreed, everything just seemed like stress to her. 

After a while, a man came to see her and all hell broke loose. She began to yell at the man and accused him of not coming home or giving her money to take care of the boy, she said that the boy was sick for a while and she told him but he wouldn’t give her money and stopped taking her calls until she had to report to the father’s uncle that the boy was in the hospital . 

Other patients were looking at them while some begged them to stop or go outside but the woman refused and became aggressive. She held on to his cloths and slapped him. At that point we had to call for security. Before they came, she had torn his shirt and dragged him across the hall. The man held her hands begging her to stop, not really begging but threatening her that if she didn’t remove her grip he would deal with her. 

People began to come into the unit to see what was happening because their voice was loud. It is not in my power as a nurse to separate fights so I don’t get injured, so I watched from a distance while I waited for the security men. We begged and begged this woman but she wouldn’t listen. She rained curses on him and at a point began crying and was threatening to kill herself. 

She said the pain was too much to bear. One relative of another patient tried to come closer but she threatened him that she would pick up the Fanta bottle beside her bed and smash it on his head. I didn’t know when I got to the exit door ready to bounce out. The security men finally came and told her to leave the ward, she still refused. One of them managed to kick the bottle beside her bed away and dragged her from the man.

 They threw them out and shut the door behind them. While all these was happening, the boy was fast asleep, because of the medication he had. Finally, it was my closing time and I hurried to leave. That was too much drama for one day. I don’t know if they are or were married but I could tell the man was the father of the child. I still met them arguing outside the unit. 

This is just one out of many other kinds of dysfunctional families out there, whereby the parents are not in good terms with one another. The poor woman must have been going through a lot, taking care of the children all by herself. Or maybe she did something really bad to the man before that made him leave the house. Even if she did something bad to him, that doesn’t give him the right to abuse the poor children by neglecting them too.

 Most times, those kinds of children grow up to feel unloved and even if they find someone who truly loves or cares for them, they feel like they don’t deserve it because they are not used to it. As for the boy, he would definitely get better with the line of treatment he was placed on.

*Thank God it ended well for the little boy.

I dont understand why some people will birth Children when they know they cannot take care of them or afford to take care of them...caring for a child s not just financial,it is also emotional and social....it is a selfless service that does not come with salary....