Nghe An Provincial People's Committee requested the police to promptly resolve and strictly handle the case of the nurse being assaulted.

On the afternoon of June 2, the People's Committee of Nghe An province sent a document to the Provincial Police; Department of Health; Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to verify and clarify the incident that occurred at Nghe An General Hospital. This move took place after the Department of Health issued an official dispatch regarding the hospital's nursing staff being assaulted by a patient's family member.

According to the document of the Provincial People's Committee, this is an illegal act that needs to be condemned by society and strictly handled by the law. The above incident has disrupted the order and safety of the hospital, affected the emergency work, medical examination and treatment, affected the spirit, health, and threatened the lives and motivation of the team of doctors and medical staff.

To strengthen the work of ensuring security and safety for medical examination and treatment facilities, the Provincial People's Committee requested the Provincial Police to direct professional units to promptly investigate, resolve and strictly handle the above case in accordance with the provisions of law.

The Provincial People's Committee also requested the Department of Health to pay attention to and promptly encourage the health and spirit of medical staff and patients affected by the above incident; Direct medical examination and treatment facilities to comprehensively review the medical examination and treatment process, security and order assurance work at the units, especially urgently verifying information reflecting the incident that occurred at the Emergency Department - Nghe An General Hospital.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is assigned to direct local press agencies to promptly inform about the above incident so that public opinion can have a correct, complete and objective view of the incident; coordinate in investigating and handling cases of assault on medical staff, ensuring that information is provided fully and accurately to the public.

Previously, as reported by Nghe An Newspaper, at around 11:52 p.m. on May 31, the Emergency Department at Nghe An General Hospital admitted patient Tran Van L. (53 years old, residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city) for emergency treatment. After the patient entered the department, the doctor on duty examined the patient, explained the patient's condition, prescribed medication, performed paraclinical indications, and guided the patient's family to the counter to complete the patient's procedures.

At the check-in counter, the 29-year-old nurse received the documents, then guided the family to the waiting area outside, to wait according to hospital regulations. However, the patient's son, Tran Tuan Anh (32 years old, resident of Hamlet 23, Nghi Kim Commune, Vinh City), did not comply, showed an uncooperative attitude and used insulting and threatening words towards the medical staff.

The nurse then continued to explain and asked the family to wait outside for the medical staff to perform their duties. When assistance was needed, the medical staff would notify them. However, the young man did not comply. He continued to curse, threaten, and reached over the check-in counter, slapping the nurse in the face, knocking off her glasses. This caused the nurse to have a swollen left cheek, pain, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, blurred vision, and panic. She had to be hospitalized for treatment.

Recently, there have been a series of cases of doctors and nurses being assaulted by patients' relatives across the country. In March, a doctor in Gia Lai was assaulted by a patient's family member, causing psychological trauma. On May 4, a medical staff member at Nam Dinh General Hospital was pushed and hit in the face by a family member. This person was later prosecuted for disturbing public order.

Faced with that situation, on May 12, the Ministry of Health requested hospitals to deploy security measures and have plans to prevent and respond to situations of disturbances and assaults on medical staff. Specifically, the Ministry of Health requested local health department leaders and hospital directors to strengthen security and safety for medical examination and treatment facilities. Security camera systems were installed in key areas such as examination and emergency departments, on-call rooms, administrative corridors, hospital entrances, etc. Hospitals increased security personnel, arranged 24/7 duty at key locations and ensured proactiveness in handling situations, while coordinating with the police and local authorities to handle violations.

On the other hand, hospitals review the process of receiving and handling emergency cases, the medical examination process and regulations on providing and exchanging information with patients and their relatives. Medical staff must be educated in professional ethics and codes of conduct, communication skills, and situation handling. To reduce patient waiting time, avoid overload, and reduce the risk of conflict, hospitals increase the application of information technology in medical examination and treatment, especially effectively implementing electronic medical records, online medical registration, and time-based examinations...