Whilst with a patient at the Geraldton Regional Hospital, we witnessed the below story. We were very happy with the treatment we received during the stay, but were concerned with what we witnessed.
There was an incident in the ward regarding the care of a terminally ill patient by a particular nurse. We believe the nurse may need counselling around the care of patients.
While the nurse was attending to the terminally ill patient, it seemed to us that the patient didn't want to eat the food the nurse was grinding up for them. The way the nurse treated the patient seemed to be very unkind.
This nurse was also our attending nurse and seemed busy, so rather than worry her with a request, I asked another nurse. This seemed to upset our attending nurse, who I felt growled at me telling me the other nurse had her own patients to look after. I did check this with the other nurse who was fine about it and told me it wasn't a problem.
The terminally ill patient was visited by a friend. During this visit the friend spoke to the nurse about the manner in which the nurse fed the patient.
While the nurse was out of the room the patient attempted to get out of the bed, but as they attempted to do so they fell on the nearby chair. When the nurse came into the room, the patient had died.
Later the nurse was attending to another patient in the room and we believe we heard the patient say to the nurse - What, do you want me to die too?
The nurse may have been having a bad day or have some things going on in her private life, but we think she may need some counselling.
"Witnessing the care of a terminally ill patient."
About: Geraldton Hospital Geraldton Hospital Geraldton 6530
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