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Young ones less caring: Seniors
“Commercial education has decreased human compassion,” said Sri Hastuti, a senior midwife at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday
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“Commercial education has decreased human compassion,” said Sri Hastuti, a senior midwife at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.
Sri Hastuti, or Tuti, is deeply concerned about the declining quality of services given to patients by many young midwives in many hospitals.
According to her, midwives in the past had more empathy and treated their patients better.
“The new generation of midwives does not perform like the old generation,” she said during a seminar to commemorate the National Midwives Day on June 24.
She said the younger generation had been used to indifferent and egocentric lifestyles, which mostly do not apply in most midwives’ hospital assignments, which involve helping women to give birth to their babies safely.
“We are securing at least two people’s lives when helping a woman to give birth,” she said, when asked about the real meaning of becoming a midwife.
She said the new generation of midwives had spent a lot of money getting their degrees and employment in hospitals and community health centers.
She was also disappointed with young midwives who prioritized rich patients compared to the
poor ones.
“This case has been going on for more than a decade in many hospitals, she said.”
In the past, midwives would be directly hired by hospitals and community health centers after finishing their degrees. They did not look for placements, or paid employment.
“Money and modern lifestyles have changed people’s attitudes.”
A retired midwife requesting anonymity said the admission procedure for those wanting to become midwives in hospitals and community health centers did not have good application standards.
She said the declining services might be because of poor qualification standards. Lifestyles also influenced the quality of services.
Some midwives might actually have bad health habits, including drinking and smoking.
“These habits will adversely affect their daily work. They may lose concentration when dealing with critical patients, she said.”
She gave an example of a premature baby who was treated in an incubator.
“Being late to put an infant in an incubator or leaving him inside the unit for very long time without doctors’ supervision can cause blindness,” she said, adding some hospitals have carelessly committed the action.
“Actually, midwives need psychologists to motivate them and reduce tense feelings when performing their jobs.”
A psychologist for a clinic is required to give counselling to any health worker, including midwives.
Regarding this, Tuti suggested midwives needed continuous training involving strong ethical
enforcement.
Tuti said she always tried to remind her juniors of treating their patients with great care.
“They have to treat their patients affectionately like family, giving protection,” she said, adding counseling and training for the midwives is required to remind them of keeping up this kind of attitude. (nia)
