"Bullying"

I was deeply frustrated during my recent stay in early January at Kununurra Hospital with my child. An experienced midwife was assigned to care for my toddler, who had a fever and chesty cough, but they were seemingly uninterested and disengaged with us, instead, laughing with nurses from the ED department we came from and going off with them. Despite, as I understand it, having no other patients, they consistently ignored my calls for assistance, and I only saw them at the start and end of their shift. I believe they even tried to pretend they had been more involved in my care than they had been, which angered me. The next midwife to take over at night time was amazing and made up for that midwife at least. But when I was so worried about my child they were no where to be seen. 

The ward was shared, and I could see how stretched the other nurses were. However, two male nurses, who I initially felt uneasy about, turned out to be absolutely wonderful. They, along with a few junior midwives and nurses plus Dr Bruce showed genuine care and professionalism.

During two particularly busy shifts in my admission, a doctor arrived who seemed to be more interested in exercising power than in patient care. They repeatedly criticised the male nurses and a male doctor, nitpicking their actions despite their professionalism. They had not one good thing to say about their staff and I felt were downright mean and they seemed to be in cahoots with the other nurse.

This doctor reprimanded one junior nurse for not changing the sheets on a patient’s bed, in front of the patient, even though they weren’t dirty in my opinion. They were so busy all shift and wouldn't have had time. Later on I saw the junior nurse crying to another nurse.

They also criticized the doctor and male nurse team leader for not knowing the whereabouts of a patient, who had left the hospital. The male nurses and doctor remained calm and professional, while the other doctor seemingly continued to target them. I believe it wasn't their fault, the patient ran off and you could see they really cared. They even kept that patient's bed free. I felt it was such an awful display of ongoing bullying to so many of the staff. The missing midwife however laughed and joked with these other two when the midwife was the one who hadn't cared for me.

In my opinion, it’s no wonder that many nurses and doctors complain about bullying and eventually leave the profession. I witnessed it firsthand, and as someone with friends in the nursing field, I can understand why it becomes so unbearable. As a consumer, I wanted to speak out about what I saw and how damaging this behavior can be, not just to the staff, but to the overall quality of care.