The Lesotho Nursing Council (LNC) made the public aware of its mandate, and clarified the disciplinary processes and procedures that are followed when misconducts regarding nurses have been reported to LNC office.

The council also provided guidance to the public on how to lodge a complaint on professional misconducts of nurses or midwives and nursing assistants, and to provide information on the type of misconducts that can be reported to the Lesotho Nursing Council.

Speaking at the event in Maseru yesterday, the Deputy Chairman of LNC board Mr Rejakile Fosa, said the procedures followed seem to be misinterpreted by some of the public members, as discovered over social media platforms such as Facebook.

The other member of the board Mrs ‘Matumelo Tlelima, said failure to provide nursing care that is congruent with the set nursing care standards leads to poor nursing care and harm to the health of the public.

In her statement she highlighted that failure to provide required treatment to the patient, giving confidential information about the patient to unauthorized persons, and theft from a patient or deceased persons are examples of unethical behaviors that lead to professional misconduct.

She said if a nurse, midwife or nursing assistant is found guilty of these behaviors, such an individual should be reported to the LNC offices in writing.

She said the office will provide the reporter with reporting form to fill, as it guides the individual to provide all the details of where the incident occurred, and giving the particulars of the persons involved and witnesses if any.

She further said reporting will be followed by the investigation which may take some months depending on the location where the incident occurred, and availability of the people involved together with the witnesses.

Tlelima further explained that on completion of the investigation, the report is compiled and submitted to the Professional Conduct Committee which will assess the report and determine if it is prosecutable, and then the disciplinary hearing will be conducted against such an individual.

In her statement she indicated that depending on the outcome of the hearing, relevant remedial intervention will be imposed to the individuals in question, and possible guilty individuals involve being penalized by imposing a fine, censure or removal from register as per the magnitude of the case.