When the water level rises, you have to... store it away.
(Baonghean) - The recent incident of mistakenly injecting distilled water into 60 children at a kindergarten has once again sounded the alarm about the current state of professional competence of healthcare workers at the grassroots level. People were horrified to hear the words "mistaken injection," but breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the words "distilled water." It's truly fortunate!
Perhaps the public has become accustomed to incidents like this over the past year, so the uproar quickly subsided. However, it would be extremely dangerous if we were to ignore it and forget about it. This is a lesson we must remember. Remember it not to satisfy anyone's anger with criticism, but most importantly, to remember it so that we never repeat this near-fatal mistake again. It's heartbreaking for the children and their families, but we also can't help but feel sorry for the unfortunate medical staff member. It seems people are treating her negligence as a crime, which isn't entirely wrong. But, if we can calm down, let's ask ourselves what mistake she made? She was a medical staff member on duty. She had received vaccination training and had a certificate. That unfortunate incident occurred when she was assigned the specific task of administering vaccinations at Sao Mai Kindergarten; she certainly didn't act on her own initiative. She arrived on time and worked diligently with love for the children. We also believe that she certainly didn't enjoy the mistake that led to disciplinary action, or even sudden national fame! The person who is likely suffering the immense pressure from public opinion only committed one mistake, or more accurately, one crime – the crime of professional incompetence. It's truly appalling! Not to mention the inability to read and identify the names of medications, even someone with normal eyesight couldn't distinguish the vast difference between a vaccine vial and a vial of distilled water. If that's not professional incompetence, then what is? Furthermore, after the incident, representatives from the Ministry of Health have already preliminarily verified the situation and publicly stated that it was "due to the incompetence of our medical staff"! Yes, it's certain that the young employee's expertise was questionable; no one would doubt that, and perhaps it's an undeniable explanation. However, at that moment and even afterward, people worriedly questioned why someone so incompetent could "slip" into a place where mistakes are unacceptable, why someone so incompetent could be entrusted with a task that involved the lives of hundreds of people? How could someone so incompetent be granted a certificate? Whose fault is this? If they didn't realize she was incompetent, or if they knew she was incompetent but still "used" her, is the fault entirely hers? Thankfully, she escaped a terrible sentence, a real social disaster, because the ten vials that were mistakenly taken contained distilled water, a liquid considered the purest. Even the most skeptical person would believe that the accidental injection of distilled water was due to personal negligence. But could it be that her assignment to carry out the task of "meeting vaccination targets" within the healthcare sector was also a collective oversight? How many other employees like her exist as potential candidates? Or, in other words, how many healthcare workers are incompetent but haven't been "exposed" yet?
Just a few weeks ago, there was a huge uproar about "using literature as an entrance exam score for medical schools." The reasoning behind it sounds rather bizarre: because many medical staff have long had poor communication skills and spelling errors. Incidentally, I'd like to point out that studying literature isn't just about speaking well or spelling correctly. Furthermore, if you insisted on speaking well and spelling perfectly, many other fields would still be using literature as an entrance exam score. Training doctors who are "well-spoken and have good handwriting" would be ideal, but achieving that is difficult and rare! Society already has a division of labor, and our ancestors have always advised, "Master one skill, and you will prosper." So, just focus on excelling in your profession, upholding medical ethics, and striving to become an "outstanding doctor."
Returning to the distilled water story, although this incident hasn't yet resulted in serious consequences, it has exposed worrying gaps in management. It also highlights stark realities that need to be seriously, thoroughly, and urgently addressed – the quality of the workforce! The "thread of experience" cannot be endlessly drawn upon year after year. Science is science; it demands precision in every detail, in every action of each individual. There are areas where mistakes are unacceptable. I believe a comprehensive purge is urgently needed. Following that, a serious retraining plan is necessary. Even after the purge and systematic training, if there are still people who can't distinguish between vaccines and distilled water… then the "water" will have to be "distilled"!
Nguyen Khac An
