Malkangiri: The Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Monday issued an order banning mobile phones in the Malkangiri District Headquarters Hospital’s critical care units.
The decision was taken after TikTok videos taken at the Malkangiri DHH featuring some nurses inside the Sick and Newborn Care Unit (SNC) went viral on social media.
Malkangiri CDMO Ajit Kumar Mohanty has imposed restrictions on carrying mobile phones into the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU), Intensive Care Units (ICUs), Operation Theatres (OTs) and labour rooms of the DHH to prevent untoward incidents during the treatment of patients.
Mohanty said restrictions on carrying mobile phones into critical care units of the hospital were already in place, but they were not being strictly enforced.
On June 26, a series of TikTok videos showing four nurses frolicking with a newborn inside the SNCU of the DHH had gone viral on social media.
Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das sought a report from hospital officials to explain about action taken against the four nurses.
The nurses were asked to go on compulsory indefinite leave after show-cause notices were issued to them by the hospital authorities.
The concerned nurses – Ruby Ray, Tapasi Biswas, Swapna Bala and Nandini Ray – were earlier served show-cause notices by the CDMO for negligence and for recording TikTok videos inside the SNCU.
