Ghanaian Nurse in US Calls Patient “Honey” and Instantly Regrets It, Video Sparks Reactions
- A Ghanaian nurse in the US has opened up about how his attempt to be friendly towards a patient was taken out of context
- In a now-viral video, he explained that the incident happened while he was going to give medicine to the said individual
- Social media users who took to the comment section of the video have shared varied opinions on the incident and advised him
A male Ghanaian nurse based in the US is trending in the wake of his commentary surrounding a viral nurse fined for reportedly harassing a colleague in the UK.
This comes after he shared a personal experience of what happened to him for not referring to a patient by her actual name.
Source: Getty Images
In the now-viral video, the young man, popularly known on TikTok as @papanurse13new, said that during his time in the UK practising nursing, he realised that using terms like “love” or “my love” to address people was not deemed offensive or disrespectful.
After moving to the US to work as a nurse, he also noticed that terms like “honey” or “hun” were generally acceptable when addressing people.
The Ghanaian nurse stated that it was in this vein that, on one occasion while giving medicine to a patient, he referred to her as “honey.”
He said he was met with a rather unexpected response when the patient questioned why he had chosen such a term for her.
I noticed that people often say ‘honey’ and ‘hun,’ so I was giving medicine to a patient and I said, ‘Can you tell me your name hun?’ She responded saying, ‘I am your hun…’”
At that point, the Ghanaian nurse realised he had overstepped his boundaries and apologised to the patient, promising not to call her by that name again.
“There I apologised and assured her I would call her by her name henceforth. From then on, referring to someone as ‘honey’ is not something I do. Now I mention your first name.”
He concluded by stating that it is important to respect the cultures of others.
Watch the TikTok video below:
Nurse fined for calling colleague “auntie”
The disclosure by the young man came after a UK employment tribunal ordered compensation for a 61-year-old healthcare assistant after ruling that she faced harassment from a colleague who repeatedly called her “auntie,” despite her objections.
The Ghanaian nurse, Charles Oppong, argued that using the term “auntie” is a sign of respect in Ghanaian culture.
However, the tribunal determined that his continued use of the term after Esteves asked him to stop was unacceptable and contributed to workplace harassment.
Source: Twitter
Reactions to calling a patient honey
Social media users who took to the comment section of the video have shared their opinions on the ordeal faced by the Ghanaian nurse in the performance of his duties.
yaw dwarkwaa wrote:
“The patient took it out of context. Ghanaians are nice people,”
Fosua indicated:
“Too much respect can also put you into trouble.”
jemmy_ima opined:
“To be on the safer side, always ask people how they prefer to be addressed.”
Mary Boakye Amoakoah stated:
“I called my manager ‘sir’, I regretted it. He was angry. It should not happen again, but I thought mentioning his first name is disrespectful.”
Nurse speaks on working in Saudi
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that a Ghanaian nurse went viral after opening up about her experience working in Saudi Arabia.
She explained that expectations for relocating to the Gulf country to continue her practice were met.
Source: YEN.com.gh
