Malawi govt suspends nurse over labour ward selfie
Government has suspended a midwifery nurse over a labour ward selfie which showed her in masked face but exposed a pregnant woman with wide open legs ready to give birth in a labour ward.
Blantyre district health office director of health services Dr. Gift Kawaladzira has confirmed of the suspension of Patricia Mulichi who works at Ndirande Health Centre.
Mulichi came under intense fire on social media platforms on Tuesday for taking the selfie which went viral in social media platforms.
“We have suspended her pending further review by the Nurses and Midwifery Council of Malawi,” said Kawaladzira.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Joshua Malango said the ministry is waiting a report on the matter from Blantyre district health office.
The picture drew anger from most of people who feel the government is employing immature and irresponsible people to handle sensitive matters.
Nurses and Midwifery Council of Malawi executive director Isabella Musisi says Mulichi deserves disciplinary action and has since banned entering of mobile phones in labour wards.
“Our clients are looking for respectful maternal services. This will hinder achievement for universal health access in Malawi. Let’s see to it cell phones are not entering our labour wards. This is unacceptable behavior by our profession,” she says.
Some people are asking for her prosecution for taking a picture of a naked woman in a labour ward without her consent.
Mulichi’s relation, in a Facebook post, said Mulichihad been betrayed by her former boyfriend who circulated the picture in social media platforms after their relationship went sour.
nayenso azapangidwe choncho pobeleka kuti azamve kuwawa kwake
Breaking ethics; she should be punished!
Quota system product
let us leave politics. ndale tipanga 2019. but this is unethetical and should be condemmed
I think a stint in jail might knock some sense into that silly young woman and deter her equally silly friends. The Govt of Malawi must be very strognly on these so-called young people who own phones that are smarter then they are.
Ukanakhala owoneka bwino mphunoyo ikanachepa, nde ukuoneka kuti kunyasaku unanyasa ndi mmutu momwe!
a MoH Nanu mutengepo phunziro, the wards r just too open, there’s no privacy in our wards. Plz build labour favourable wards, nurses should av their own proper stations
She should be struck off. The woman in labour needs to be compensated.
Please women Lawyers please you have a case here. Help this lady.
If we are conderming Mchacha for castigating women this does not look good.
This midwife and the rest of us should read the book of Proverbs.
Wisdom is the principle thing.
Striking her off? No please. Just punish her in any other way u would deem fit. This lady was taking a selfie. I don’t think she had the intention of exposing her patient.
She has betrayed the patient’s trust and right to privacy and confidentiality period. She violated the most fundamental ethical and moral rule that guides nursing practice, there is no excuse for that she need to loose her license and never be allowed to practice ever again !!!!!!!
This is only a tip of iceberg as regards to the whole picture of healthcare is currently in Malawi. Pali okuba mankhwala, negligence on the part of everyone up to mortuary, fake doctors and nurses, doctors and clinicians, sexually harassing patients ena mpaka raping kumene, soliciting money from patients on public hospital services, etc. This lady is a product of a rotten sector, she is just unfortunate that zamchitikila iyeyu. I wish we had secret cameras that could show Malawians how bad our public healthcare has become. We need an overhaul zama selfie is just an icing on the rotten filthy cake
ofunika kuchinyenga doggy chimenechi ma round 5 osapumira chitenge mimba nacho akachijambule ku ward.chitsiru cha mwana.anyone with her number?
Witchcraft
Si mtumbuka uyu
Sour or ‘no sour’ relationship she was not supposed to do what she did
Firstly, I don’t see anything interesting in that labourward so that anyone can waste their time to take a selfie.
Secondly, as a mother who has given birth before, lying down naked in front of other people and in that delivery position is quite uncomfortable. I wouldn’t expect anyone in their right mind to take a selfie in such environment. Where are the ethics, privacy, confidentiality and morals of our learned young midwives? I wish the family would just keep quiet instead of trying to defend their childish relative. What she did was very wrong. It’s high time she went to enrol for a different course.
Mine is a question(s), who’s is to blame when parents are hardly home and kids misbehave? Is this the first time that people you realising how these technologies are affecting professionalism? We too slow to act…MOH wake up from your slumber.
and she is also a DPP supporter. Typical of DPP, brainless. I would not be suprised if I learn that sh is Charles Mchacha’s niece
This woman must be arrested and prosecuted. Instead of attending to a woman she was busy taking a selfie. And a woman in question should sue so that this idiot should learn a lesson.
Betrayed by her boyfriend? How? Good riddance the relationship ended, otherwise we wouldn’t have known this piece of garbage…It is an insult to her mother, her sisters, aunts, female friends and all those that respect mothers for what they go through to give birth to all of us….by the way, why would the hospital authorities allow cellphones in places as delicate and sensitive as the labour ward….apart from using their phones to take pictures, there is a likelihood that much of the time is spent attending to messages and not patients…..ethics thrown to the dogs.
Lets cool it and look at the big picture. This is obviously a mistake on her part due to a lack of clear guidelines from management to begin with on ethical behavior and also her youth and not knowing better. She should be warned and taught how to behave and act more responsibly. Fired? I dont think think so – its management that should take responsibility. Training should be comprehensive to cover ethical behavior, and also other issues such as abuse of power, corruption, sexual harassment, use of media, etc. The country is so short of nurses … ethical and safe working conditions are not a pre-existing condition, they have to be created, taught and ensured by management. Lets go and weed out corruption, theft and other more serious crimes rather than finding an easy victim because of a selfie taken in the wrong place
Would you have asked people to cool down if the woman in the picture was your mother, wife, daughter or sister? Don’t think like a cow.
Iwe Monimoni don’t lie to people. If there is one profession that is rooted in ethical training and practice then it is the medical professions. There are issues of confidence and trust here that this so called Nurse can be sued for all her life earnings. Being short of nurses is no excuse this should be taken in the first place. Inuyo mukukondwa nazo izi?? Osanamizila kuti tione za corruption ayi zachitika apa nzolakwika osatinso pang’ono ayi. Mukufuna kukwaniritsa chani ndi ma selefi otelewa???
Iwe Monimoni don’t lie to people. If there is one profession that is rooted in ethical training and practice, then it is the medical professions. There are issues of confidence and trust here that this so called Nurse can be sued for all her life earnings. Being short of nurses is no excuse that this picture should have been taken in the first place. Inuyo mukukondwa nazo izi?? Osanamizila kuti tione za corruption ayi zachitika apa nzolakwika osatinso pang’ono ayi. Mukufuna kukwaniritsa chani ndi ma selefi otelewa???
i think you don’t know what you’re saying,issues of corruption have nothing to do with this uncalled for behavior, just imagine if the woman in question was your mother,sister or let alone your relations how could you feel about it? you cant not blame training institutions on this and for your information we have seen youthful health workers doing their work better with excellence and compassion,so its not about her being young or what, its about her being irresponsible and she deserve to be fired we cant keep such kind of people in the system
She cannot survive this. She is exposing a patient who is in pain, legs open. Reminder nurses have got jobs ethics if you do not know. Maintaining patients diginity and privacy is one of them. Nurses council will revoc her pin, whats next? Shes finished then she can start a secritarial course.That police constable lost her job for showing her vagina, what more exposing a patients naked body? She needs to be locked in prison for her stupidity. She knew what she was doing and she knows the jobs rules.
Shalow and shocking thinking from somebody who is not fit to hold a responsible position. You are not fit to be in a managerial position and if this is the wisdom in many people like you, Malawi is for dogs. Have you ever attended any workplace training or just thinking that she should attend one? One cannot become a nurse without the training on the so called issues narrated here. Infact nurses take an oath to serve patient when finishing their course which she even broke here.
@Monimoni, Would you hold the same view if it was your relation whose picture was taken whilst giving birth?
I agree. She shouldn’t be fired. She should be disciplined and retrained (retake ethics course). Maximum of 3 months suspension without pay. While what she did cannot be condoned, senior health officials abuse resources that lead to actual death of patients (e.g. using ambulances for personal use such that they are not available when required, stealing fuel for ambulances, stealing drugs, stealing mattresses, food items just to name a few). What does the government do? Transfer them. Yet for this immature nurse people are rallying for her dismissal? Really? When we don’t have enough nurses?
Mupeze ntchito ina mwina yochapa zovala kapena yonyamula matumba muzijambulitsa ndi zimenezo. Osati wanthu omwe akukhulupirirani kuti muwathandiza mmatupi mwawo ayi. Be humane!!!
you don’t need guidelines etc to know that you should not take pictures of naked women giving birth on your private mobile phone without the woman’s consent. This poor woman trusted this idiot and unbeknown to her the idiot so called nurse was taking these private pictures of her at her most vulnerable time to keep for herself. She should be fired for breach of trust, struck off from the nurses register for gross misconduct by a professional and prosecuted for posting such intimate images without consent of this poor child bearing mother
I beg to differ amkolo. She is not a ten year kid. She is a grown up, graduate and trained in the ethics of her job. She knew what she was doing. Ambuye, even if there were no guidelines, of which i doubt, a sane, grown up and professional nurse would know that is not an appropriate place to take a selfie. Assuming that mother down there was your mum, sister or wife, would you talk the clap you saying here? In fact, that girl can be sued. It’s a serious case. And by lack of clear guidelines, what do you mean? I thought she read what the conditions of service of her office are?
Yes Malawi has other serious problems to address e.g. corruption as you are putting it. But does that mean Police should not arrest a man who is caught stealing a laptop just because they (Police) are yet to arrest thieves in government who are stealing billions of money? It does not work that way.
If you are caught breaking the law, the law is supposed to take its course.
She deliberately ignored her office’s conditions of service and she needs to face the appropriate sanctions. In this case, dismissal is the right sanction.
Thanks to all who reacted to the ill-framed comment above – sincere apologies for the insensitivity implied in the message.
Maybe the woman should be fired, if indeed that is supported by policies of the MoH … To show real maturity, the supervisor of the clinic should also take responsibility. This is the correct corporate culture that is needed. This is exactly what we ask of govt leaders to do to take responsibilities for errors made by govt officers. Wasnt there a call for the President to resign recently?
If it was my daughter or mother, I would be equally incensed. However, I cant be the judge and jury in such a case – judgement has to be based on written policies and laws. Not feelings of those wronged. I do not accept ad hoc decisions that are based on personalities and personal whims. We need rule of law. If a law doesnt exist or is weak, lets work on fixing it. Laws in other countries are always made as a response to a perceived wrong. Thats a functional democracy.
If the existing MoH rules/laws or patient rights exist, then by all means the expectant mother should sue and be compensated.
This story found its way to CNN – https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/15/africa/malawi-selfie-nurse-suspended-africa-intl/index.html. The video has all kinds of coverage about poverty in Malawi that have nothing to do with the selfie!!
Lets look at other service environments and develop policies to protect consumer rights. Basi ndapita …
You are getting it wrong again Monimoni because this is all about medical ethics and ethical practice. The was no reason enough to take this picture in the first place. Treat people with compassion as demanded by learned professional practice osatinso china ayi.
Why take selfies in such places Patricia? Grow up and you’ll survive in that profession, otherwise, you are doomed.
Why was she keeping this picture in the phone? She sow the background of the picture was not good yet she was still using it to send to other people. She could have deleted it. This is really childish
This calls for an immediate dismissal. Is this what you are taught to do? And don’t blame the ex, he was not with you in that ward.
Am a Nurse too working within Blantyre DHO, the defense by Patricia and her relations kuti the picture is being circulated by her boyfriend coz the chibwenzi went sour does not hold water the question is what was the motive behind that pic? So u shld be fired with immediate effect
This is the price you pay when these silly nurses are employed without proper orientation. Put laws that safe guard people everywhere against social network madness. It is totally getting out of control. It seems HR heads in government are in a deep sleep on the job. SO SO DISGUSTING
shame
Achichita bwino chitsiru chimene ichi!!!! How dare she, she is a disgrace to women!!!
this is totally a disgrace and punishment must be followed by just firing her not just suspending…. technology ikutionongad mipanje eti
Suspension is not enough. Just fire her, pay her tindalama take and revoke ka certificate kake.There are so many people out here who can do that job.
She MUST be fired!!!!
eeeedi ……waonjeza osamangolembadi ntchito ana achibwana…komanso ndi khalidwe lao ogwila ntchito kuchipatala instead of assisting patients you see they are busy with their phones then kumakagwila mma private…….shame on you …..fire her pliz