Recently I went for treatment at King Faisal Hospital and what I saw was astonishing. The nurses and doctors (those I saw) are welcoming and ready to help each patient. Since I had not made an appointment, the receptionist advised me to pick my file and go to the emergency ward. In the emergency room, I found a receptionist who welcomed me warmly. I started chatting with her as she sorted out things here, and occasionally using her computer. “You know you have to be patient with our doctors in this part of the hospital. There are quite busy with serious cases and as you may understand, a person who is not so sick like you cannot be given priority. Priority is normally given to those who are in critical condition,” said the cashier politely as I paid the consultation fee. The cashier was not the only good person to me that day; there were two other nurses who I met immediately after the receptionist. One nurse came along and said, “I am told that there has been a patient waiting for me here for long? I am extremely sorry. I had a critical patient I was attending to and that is why I couldn’t attend to you in time.” However, no sooner had she finished talking to me and registering me as an out patient, than she was called to attend to a man who had just injured himself. I had to sit and wait. I was actually ready to wait for many more hours until I got treatment. However, I didn’t wait for long. Just when I was starting to worry about my delay to go back to my working place, I saw a doctor coming towards me in a corridor. I didn’t hesitate to approach him. He asked me to explain how I was feeling. “Since you are not feeling so bad and I am too busy to attend to you, you can in short, tell me how you feel and then make an appointment for a comprehensive check up. However, I am going to give you some painkillers to keep you going,” said Dr. Shyaka. Surprisingly, by the time I was receiving the injection from the nurse, I was feeling fine and ready for any work. Doctors are supposed to be guided by the canon of professional ethics based upon fundamental principles of moral and professional behaviour recommended to all practitioners, and those at King Faisal Hospital are doing just that. Why don’t other doctors and nurses emulate Doctor Shyaka and his nurses? Some doctors instead display impatience, frustration or disrespect which is against their professional ethics. There are written codes of ethics, all of which require some version of competence, dependability, respect, courtesy and diligent effort. Part of the professional ethics for doctors and nurses is putting patients’ needs ahead of any other considerations. A doctor for example should not behave unprofessionally by putting profits ahead of patients. The true story about some King Faisal Hospital staff, which opens this article, reveals how patients are dying to receive proper care and treatment from doctors and nurses. Which is why the author was astonished by the rare treatment he got from Dr. Shyaka and group. The argument here is that this should not be a rare treat; rather, it should be the norm. Contact: mugitoni@yahoo.com
