Aussie army nurse delivers tsunami baby

Australian Defence Force nursing officer Patrick Bates is getting a ribbing from his mates about names for newborn infants, after delivering his first baby at a tsunami-hit village in the Solomon Islands.

The 31-year-old army lieutenant was part of a medical team dropped by helicopter at the village of Maravari on Vella Lavella Island on Friday when his skills were called on to assist a 21-year-old woman in protracted labour.

Only four weeks ago the reservist officer from the 2nd Health Support Battalion in Brisbane completed a NSW Nurses Association emergency obstetrics course, taking time off from his job as an intensive care nurse at Royal Brisbane Hospital.

He arrived at Maravari to be rushed by the local health worker to a hut where Racheal (Racheal) Haqi-Ilo had been in labour for 24 hours.

Only 10 days beforehand the north-west Solomons was shaken by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake then swept by a tsunami, leaving upwards of 40 people dead and thousands of people homeless.

In Maravari, Bates set to work to assess the woman then radioed his unit at the island town of Gizo to seek instructions on a possible medical evacuation.

"We were waiting for a reply when a runner came up and said, 'Mister, mister, she's about to have a baby'," Bates said.

He and army medic Lynda Bateson rushed to the woman and Bates began preparing for the delivery with the help of the local health worker, who had little experience of childbirth.

"I was pretty confident, I did recall a lot of the material from the obstetrics course, everything did look right," Bates said.

Bates checked his procedures by radio with unit doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay McDowell in Gizo during the two and a half hour delivery.

The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck but he managed to free it.

Bates said the delivery went well for the first-time mother and the baby and he was thanked profusely by the family and gathered villagers.

"Everyone was smiling as soon as we opened the door, they were giggling to each other and very happy," Bates said.

"With the earthquake and tsunami, they had had some bad luck.

"Bearing in mind it was Friday the 13th, it was pretty lucky. I certainly wouldn't have minded a bit more experience, but that's the way the military works.

"For some reason I actually packed a cigar that day. I never got to crack it but I might do that when I get home."

Bates said he had a long way to go to match his father, who is an obstetrician in Perth and has delivered thousands of babies.

The medical unit's commander, Major Jocelyn King, said Bates was on hand at a good time.

"We are all ribbing him about what they are going to call the child."

But Bates said he was not sure he liked the idea of a little Solomon Islands girl being called Paddy.

The 15-member army medical team in the Solomons is assisting the country's Health Department to get island health clinics back up and running, is helping ensure good sanitation and clean water in displacement camps and is assessing village health needs.

Suspended nurse blames shift patterns

A nurse has blamed her shift patterns at a Norfolk hospital for causing her to make mistakes, including giving a blood pouch to the wrong person.

Yesterday, Sally Forster, 36, was suspended for a year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She had already been dismissed from the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston in December 2004.

The Halesworth woman was charged with failing to reach the required standards of a registered nurse between April and September 2004 and a lack of competence which meant her fitness to practice was impaired.

In letters to the panel, she said: “I admit to not meeting the standards required, but as also stated the work/life balance was inappropriate and despite numerous requests that the shifts I received were not acceptable, these were not taken seriously enough.

“I felt nervous about being constantly watched as if I was being forced into a mistake.

“I believe my shift turnaround left me so run down, physically tired and fatigued that it contributed to my errors. I felt depressed and couldn't nurse the way I felt was appropriate.”

But the panel found that she was supported by the hospital.

Panel chairman Kathleen McLean said: “We have heard evidence from many witnesses and despite some improvement it was neither consistent nor sustainable.

“We are satisfied she got intensive support and supervision, but she posed a clear risk to patient safety due to a lack of competence, and in the interests of public safety and protection we felt it appropriate for a suspension order.”

Forster made the errors while she was working on two orthopaedic wards. She was already being monitored by the ward sister when she gave a blood pouch to the wrong person in April 2004.

A few weeks later, she was spotted connecting a glucose drip to a patient who was not diabetic.

Although neither patient was harmed, she could not explain why she was making the mistakes. She was signed off sick with a stress-related illness and depression.

She was placed on a performance review, but despite repeated attempts from her line managers she made a string of errors, including failing to check patient identities and not telling a senior member of staff when a patient developed MRSA. After a further mistake with a drip in September 2004, she was dismissed.

Prosecutors argue nurse helped Golfview robber because of child

Attorneys Tuesday revealed that the Rochester, Minn., nurse charged with aiding the alleged robber of the Golfview Liquor store is the mother of his child.

Susan Leathes, 36, made her first appearance in Winona County District Court Tuesday, where she heard charges that she treated Andre Dion Jones for a bullet wound after he was shot during a botched robbery.

She then lied about it to police, according to the charges.

Leathes, a Mayo Clinic nurse, is raising a 12-year-old daughter that she had with Jones. Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean argued that the connection gave Leathes motivation to protect Jones.

Leathes’ private attorney, Gary Gittus, painted a different picture during the brief hearing.

“She’s been manipulated and lied to,” Gittus said. “She had no knowledge (of the robbery) until after the fact … she acted out of concern for her daughter.”

Leathes faces four counts of aiding an offender. She was released without bail, provided she returns for future court appearances.

Jones, 37, has been charged with six felony counts of robbery and is being held in the Winona County Jail. Prosecutors say that Jones tried to rob the Golfview Liquor store on Feb. 9 and was shot by the owner.

A 37-year-old Rochester, Minn. man also faces charges that he drove Jones to and from the store.

Nurse's aide charged in theft

– A nurse's aide has been charged with stealing credit cards from a disabled Northfield man he worked for and buying more than $1,000 of merchandise.

Police say Jeffrey Smith, 23, also of Northfield, stole the credit cards from a 57-year-old partially paralyzed man he had worked for a few weeks.

Police say Smith racked up charges at gas stations around the Lakes Region, buying hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards. They say he also paid a utility bill and twice paid $69 pizza bills with his client's cards.

The cards were not quickly missed. One of the credit card companies called the victim in January about suspicious charges, but he was in the hospital and could not contact the police right away.

Police said Smith was arrested on March 30 and charged with felony fraudulent use of a credit card. The thefts took place in January.

Smith was first arrested Jan. 25 on related charges, including receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card.

More Foreign-Trained Nurses Leave Poor Countries To Work In U.S.

Washington D.C. (AHN) - According to the latest census figures, a large number of foreign-trained nurses are leaving their native countries to find work in the United States. The foreign-trained nurses constituted nearly 8.8 percent of all new registered nurses in the United States in 1990.
Newswire.com reports that the number had jumped to 15.2 percent in 2000. Also, 21 percent of percent of foreign-trained registered nurses belong to low-income countries as Africa; almost triple the rate since 1990.
The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health, says "The prospect for higher wages overseas attracts talented local workers to the field of nursing, which may increase local and worldwide nursing supply," the study's authors said.
Cautioning the nurses from leaving their home countries to work elsewhere, the study added, "The implications of policy changes should be carefully considered to avoid unintended consequences."

Mouth-to-mouth can hurt during cardiac arrest