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Cape Town - As part of the continuing debate on the high cost of private health care, two opposing views of the care received in ICU have emerged.
On the one hand there have been Fin24 users, who work at private hospitals, who wrote that they feel like nothing less than "money making slaves". Staff at private hospitals also wrote to Fin24 to say they are certainly not being paid well.
READ: Payment of private hospital staff questioned
On the other hand, some Fin24 users wrote in to complain about the treatment they received from nursing staff at private hospitals.
The debate has now reached questions about what is happening in ICU.
Fin24 user R. Maharaj writes that her mother was in ICU and the quality of the staff left much to be desired.
"My mum passed away suddenly after making good progress in ICU," she writes.
"All I want to know is: Didn't the nurse on duty see the machines give irregular readings to signal possible trouble?"
The nurse the day before didn't even complete the charts to measure vitals properly.
"It was my sister and I who discovered the machine was stuck and not giving readings from 11:00 that day until 18:00," she writes.
"It is truly pathetic and makes us feel so helpless as patients and family. I wonder how many deaths can be prevented if they hired motivated and well trained staff?"
READ: Why private health care is expensive
Fin24 user Blade was amazed at what he experienced in ICU in a private hospital.
"In 2009 I was in ICU after an operation. I couldn't sleep much because of the entertainment," he writes.
"I would watch the nurses trying to fall asleep and then dislodge my finger from the pulse monitor or hold my breath to cause the machines to set off an alarm to wake them."
If the machines weren't there people in ICU wouldn't get assistance from midnight onwards, in his view.
READ: Opting for no medical aid, state hospitals
On the other hand, a Fin24 user, who wants to remain anonymous, writes about her experience as an ICU nurse:
"I am a professional nurse working in a high demand ICU and I can truly say that, yes we work with one to two patients per shift, but if that patient is critical and dying that's all you are able to take care of at a time," she writes.
"Don't judge standing on the outside please. I do it like so many others in my profession, because it is my passion. I give my all."
She says sometimes she and her colleagues do over and above what is expected of them and "the rewards are far more than a salary".
"Will it ever feel like we are earning enough for what we put in? No, but the sense of helping and changing people's lives is rewarding," she writes.
"I am not ashamed to say I am a nurse in the private sector - challenges and all."
Fin24 user Mark writes: Four weeks ago I underwent heart by-pass surgery and spent four nights in the Milpark ICU followed by a further four nights in a high care ward.
I must say the whole procedure and aftercare was faultless in service and attention - the doctors and staff are professionals of the highest order worth every penny.
ALSO READ: Two sides to private hospital care
- Fin24
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
