I acted in self-defence– Okahandja nurse

A nurse accused of assaulting a baby’s mother at Okahandja State Hospital says she acted in self-defence.

Registered nurse Secilia Nehale told The Namibian, through her lawyer Samson Enkali of Kadhila Amoomo Legal Practitioners, that she was defending herself after Tusnelde Matheus (30) allegedly insulted, poked and slapped her while she was on duty.

The incident occurred last Sunday in the children’s ward, where Matheus had been staying with her 11-month-old baby, who had been admitted to hospital.

Nehale says she was working from 07h00 to 19h00 as the head nurse in the paediatric ward when the confrontation started between 18h00 and 19h00, while she was administering medication.

She says she was treating an infant whose cannula had become blocked and asked the child’s mother to bring the baby to the nurses’ station. Nehale says the ward has beds reserved for infants and chairs borrowed from the outpatient department for mothers.