Nurses are not your maids: Family member of patient demands that nurse returns belongings they left behind in hospital

Stomper Shawn was at a hospital where his mother was warded on Jun 6 and overheard a conversation that disturbed him.

One of the nurses working in the ward was speaking on the phone with the daughter of a patient who had been discharged a few days ago and had left a some items behind.

She was giving the nurse a hard time and demanding that she send down the items to her while she waited in a taxi.

This is the Stomper's account of what happened:

"Hospitalisation and medical treatment in Singapore is not as affordable as they were in the early 90s. 

"While there is a consistent increase in hospitalisation bills, so are the expectations of people paying for them.

"Sometimes, it may get out of hand.

"I happened to overhear a phone conversation between an unreasonable family member of a patient and the nurse who was on duty at that point of time.

"Apparently the mother of the caller who had previously been discharged from the hospital ward a few days earlier had left some things behind.

"While the nurses had already informed the family members of the incident several times, the items were not retrieved until that fateful day.

The patient's daughter wanted to collect the item in the wee hours of the morning and demanded that the nurse bring down the item.

"The daughter claimed that she was taking a cab down.

"The nurse on the phone explained the situation patiently to the caller that the items could be brought down depending on if the nurses were not busy tending to other patents.

"Judging from the rattling going on the other side of the line (it was obviously quite loud), I'm sure that the person on the other side demanded that the nurse MUST commit herself to the task and demanded the nurse to identify herself in order for the caller to lodge a complaint.

"I simply cannot understand what could trigger someone to be so unreasonable and demanding.

"You are asking a favour from someone yet you can behave as if everyone owes you a living?

"Please spare a though that nurses do not have a lot of free time during their shifts like your Mother who was a patient.

"Nurses need to supervise and provide care to patients like her so don't have an "I don't care" attitude and deny other patients of their care.

"You may have paid a hefty sum for your mother's hospitalisation but so are the other patients like myself!"