GRNMA urges nurses to exit unsafe workplaces after Ridge Hospital attack
The Greater Accra Chairman of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Jefferson Asare, has advised nurses to step away from unsafe work environments if they feel threatened, following last week’s violent assault on staff at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge).
Speaking in a media interview, Mr Asare reminded health workers that the Labour Act empowers them to protect themselves when their safety is at risk.
“This is for every nurse: at any point in time when you feel the environment in which you serve is not safe, please take yourself out of that environment. The Labour Act is explicit. If the environment is harmful, you must step away, not necessarily go home,” he said.
Mr Asare revealed that Ridge Hospital alone has recorded at least five separate attacks on nurses this year, describing the situation as alarming.
“I’m not saying nurses shouldn’t go to work again. But if you have about 50 rowdy men in the small space of the emergency ward and you still stand there to work, they can kill you. In such cases, remove yourself from that environment,” he cautioned.
Mr Asare’s comments come in the wake of a viral video showing a violent clash between relatives of a patient and staff at Ridge’s emergency department, an incident that has reignited concerns about the safety of health workers.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has since set up a committee to investigate the matter and directed it to submit its report by Monday, 25 August.
Meanwhile, one of the victims, nurse Rejoice Tsotso Bortei, has filed a GHS 7 million civil lawsuit against social media personality Ralph Saint Williams, popularly known as Ralph De Fellow Ghanaian, for alleged assault and defamation linked to the incident
