Professional nurse Letta Mvelase says working at Life Esidimeni Hospital, she was heartbroken seeing and reading about some of her old patients having died of starvation and neglect. Between March and June 2016, over 1 500 psychiatric patients were moved out of Life Esidimeni and into the care of different NGOs, psychiatric hospitals and community care facilities, across Gauteng.

SEEING HER PATIENTS GO THROUGH THE MOST

Some of the facilities were not licensed or had the resources put in place to accommodate the patients and cater for their needs. It was reported some of the 144 patients who died during the tragedy were due to starvation, hypothermia and were neglected. Mvelase who worked at the psychiatric hospital for 31 years until she retired in 2014 said six years after the ordeal still pains her and she just cannot imagine what some of her old patients were forced to go through. "It is not easy working with psychiatric patients, even for us who were trained in the field, and had all the resources set in place to cater for their needs. Working at the hospital required someone strong mentally and prepared to go over their call of duty to ensure that the patient's needs were met. We had to advocate for the patients, know them and their conditions as I know myself. This helped me to be able to identify any slight change in their health whether positive or negative,' she explained.

LEFT DEPRESSED

The pensioner added that she joined the hospital aged 33 and the first few months on the job were not easy. Even though she studied towards a diploma to qualify as a psychiatric nurse, she was often left depressed by the environment. "It is not as simple and easy as it sounds on paper, the patients arrive at the hospital in very bad conditions, and many can't even identify themselves. As nurses, we have to advocate and teach them to do basic things like eating, brushing their teeth and using the bathroom; this takes months, if not years to master,' she explained.

PRISONER OF HIS CONDITION

She added that seeing some of her patients re-learning how to walk, feed themselves and even speak was fulfilling for her. Looking back, Mvelase explained that she decided to study nursing because of his ailing father who was suffering from diabetics, that took away his eyesight. "My father became a prisoner of the condition; he couldn't do much for himself and depended fully on us for his day-to-day life. Family members believed that he was bewitched and we had to take him to traditional healers.I believe if he had someone in the family who understood the chronic illness better, his condition wouldn't have deteriorated to that point,' she added.

WORKING WITH PENSIONERS

Mvelase decided to read more about the condition and soon fell in love with the profession, then she later applied to study towards a qualification in psychology and psychiatry in children.  The pensioner retired in 2014, and is now working with pensioners in Duduza. "Being a nurse is a calling I could not run away from; even though I retired in 2014, I still had a lot to give. I decided to focus the attention on helping pensioners take care of their health and to keep fit. This way, it is easily to help monitor their needs and health and make recommendations. '