Dina, an experienced nurse who has spent 45 years in the medical profession, recently shared an extraordinary incident that transpired during her tenure in the hospital. This event, she said, was unlike anything she had encountered in her long and distinguished career.
According to Dina, who chose to use a pseudonym for this recount, the episode unfolded approximately a year ago. A 90-year-old man suffering from dementia had been admitted to the intensive care unit for a catheterization procedure. He arrived with his wife but once she departed, the man’s behaviour took a shocking turn. He appeared to lose control, kicking wildly in the air, dismantling the equipment he was attached to, and disconnecting all the connections to his monitor. He even managed to extract his infusion needle.
His state of confusion was so severe that he turned violent towards the medical staff, lashing out physically and even spitting at them. For their safety and his, the team was forced to restrain him by tying his hands and legs to the bed.
“The stress and worry were immense,” Dina confessed. “I was deeply concerned that the patient was going to injure himself or the medical personnel.”
Dina explained that in her four-and-a-half decades of nursing, she had never been confronted with a situation that necessitated such extreme measures. She admitted that the experience stirred up complex emotions within her. “Seeing him struggle against the restraints despite his age was heart-wrenching. He was older than my own parents, and although the restraint was necessary, it was challenging to witness and be part of such a dramatic scenario.”
She also expressed that she had been genuinely fearful for her physical safety for the first time in her career. “The hours dragged on and felt like an eternity,” she recalled. “I was terrified that he would manage to harm me in his state.”
When her shift finally ended close to midnight, Dina returned home, mentally and physically drained. Sleep eluded her as she replayed the night’s events in her mind. Dina reported feeling distressed, fatigued, and depressed. Despite her mental state, she showed up for her next shift at 11:00 p.m. the next day. By morning, she began to experience unusual sensations in her stomach, prompting her to ask a colleague to conduct an EKG.
The test revealed abnormalities in her heart activity and Dina was rushed to the emergency room. It was here that she was diagnosed with a heart attack. She was promptly admitted to the cardiology department, where she underwent a catheterization procedure, followed by bypass surgery a week later.
Despite these circumstances, the National Insurance refused to acknowledge Dina’s heart attack as a work-related incident, attributing it instead to a “natural illness”. Attorney Ma’ayan Yohai from Markman Tomshin & Co., who represented Dina, challenged this decision. He filed an appeal with the Regional Labor Court in Nazareth, arguing that the heart attack was directly linked to the extraordinary event that Dina had experienced during her shift. He maintained that the heart attack was, therefore, a workplace accident.
In light of the lawsuit, the National Insurance reconsidered their initial stance. They agreed to recognize the connection between Dina’s heart attack and the unusual incident that occurred during her shift, thereby accepting it as a workplace accident. Consequently, Dina will now be referred to a medical committee that will evaluate her level of disability. This assessment will determine the amount of disability pension that Dina will receive for the rest of her life.
