A hospital staff nurse has described how he was spat at numerous times by a patient while he was working on a Covid-19 ward.
Speaking on Today With Seán O'Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1, the nurse - who called himself Damien - explained what happened on Tuesday morning.
"I was asked to assist with a patient who had been extremely disruptive and abusive towards staff," he said.
My colleagues needed assistance, so myself and another male member of staff were asked to assist with this patient.
There were three or four of the members of staff in the room at the time and other patients when I was called in to help.
We were in the process of preparing a single room for the woman and in that time, myself and my colleague had to restrain the patient.
So for roughly 20 to 30 minutes we had to restrain the patient and in that process, she spat numerous times. Not directly in our faces but to the sides of our heads, into the sides of our faces. It happened on four to six occasions.
Damien said that his colleague suffered "superficial wounds" to his arm during the incident. Damien was wearing goggles, a surgical mask and a gown at the time.
"I was probably thirty minutes in total with the patient and I mean for close contact. I should have been wearing another mask. You know, the masks don’t completely cover the side of your face.
"Probably 25 minutes into the incident, I asked for a head visor. That's one with a full face screen. It was a little bit too late.
"I felt [the spit] at the side of my head, my ear.
"I had to go and shower in a patient's shower room because we have no proper facilities for showering or changing clothes.
"You’re asked not to wear your uniform to and from work, obviously, but most of our staff in our ward are changing in patients’ toilets."
Damien suffered no physical injuries and will return to work in the next few days. He is monitoring himself for symptoms of Covid-19. The woman had been tested for the illness. He believes that she is still receiving care in the hospital.
"Personally I was in shock as you can imagine," Damien said regarding the whole incident.
Picture credit: Alena Marchuk/Shutterstock.com
