Intern nurses have been found working alone in wards and main hospitals without adequate supervision.
The president of the Fiji Nursing Association, Dr Alisi Vudiniabola, highlighted this during the Fiji Nursing Association’s annual general meeting.
“We now have a dangerous mix of nurses who are very young and inexperienced and are either working alone or supervised by others who are just a few years ahead of them,” says Dr Vudiniabola.
This trend will continue for some time and the effect will be felt by our people who are consumers of our service.
“It’s everywhere, like Sigatoka, Suva, and other health centres, and these interns are supposed to work under supervision and not on their own.”
She said, they started noticing this after COVID-19 and due to the exodus of nurses.
“For example, when one nurse leaves the operation theatre, five or six others leave all at once.
“It affects the theatre list and the level of experience in the theatre that looks after the critical care unit.
“When they leave, interns are often thrown into certain areas of the hospital alone, and it is not very unusual for anymore to find interns working in the afternoon.”
She said some interns are left to work in the afternoon, a time when consultants, senior nurses, and doctors retire for the day.
“Those are dangerous things to do.”
