Who will protect doctors and nurses from the violence that is happening?

(Baonghean.vn) - I just write these lines to share with you and my colleagues. I hope there is a front line against violence against medical staff, I volunteer to stand in that front line!

That is the confession and sharing of a lecturer at Vinh University about medical violence.

» Nghe An 115 General Hospital: 'Don't take your frustration out on medical staff'

» Nghe An Hospital 115 staff assaulted

Image of medical staff abuse occurring at Nghe An 115 Hospital - Photo cut from clip

I was worried and uneasy when I read in the newspaper and on social media about your colleague being beaten by a patient’s family member, having his dignity and medical ethics insulted. And today, the story happened right at your hospital, in the department where you work, where you are dedicated and attached. That uneasiness in me is even more compounded.

I don’t care who the perpetrators of the assault are, or what field they work in. What I care about is who will protect you and your colleagues, the people who only know how to hold stethoscopes and shoulder the Hippocratic Oath.

Although in this society, here and there are still some bad apples spoiling the whole barrel in the hospital environment, the obvious fact is that in this country of Vietnam, thousands and thousands of medical staff still silently work tirelessly, sharing and easing the pain of patients without needing a word of thanks.

Therefore, those abusers have no right to make accusations, no right to act recklessly in medical facilities, where love and sharing are needed, where their family members are being helped.

Today it is your colleague, tomorrow it could be you or any other colleague. Right now, I want those who dare to beat doctors, insult medical staff to accompany the doctor on duty at the hospital all night to fight for life with the grim reaper. I want them to experience a working day of medical staff when the hospital is always overloaded. I want them to see the image of you and your colleagues staying up all night to study documents when encountering difficult cases, so that they understand, they share, they know how to appreciate what people in white coats do every day.

And now, I think a lot about what you and your colleagues are going through: trying your best to get into medical school when with your abilities you could have had many other options, studying selflessly to be able to wear the white coat and studying all your life to be worthy of wearing that coat. And I also know, I believe that, no matter what, you and your colleagues will not lose your enthusiasm, love for the profession, or your sympathy for the pain of patients who are in dire need of your care because of people like this.

Right in this admission season, the excellent students must have almost perfect scores to be able to enter the school of their dreams. They are walking on the path that you and your colleagues have walked, struggling, passionate, hoping for good things, for the career of saving people. I hope that those fierce images will not shake their ideals, will not make them lose faith in the pure and good seeds they are nurturing.

Beating people is an inhumane act. "Everyone is human, no heart can be pained when it is broken." It is time to condemn and completely stop the whirlwind of medical violence. To be able to do this, it is necessary to have the community's awareness and understanding of the specific work of those working in the medical environment, the sharing of patients' families and above all, it is a very obvious fact that patients will be treated better if their families cooperate and trust the hospital.

I just write these lines to share with you and my colleagues. I hope there is a front line against violence against medical staff, I volunteer to stand in that front line!

Ton Nu Hai Yen