Recently, a nurse at Yantai Qixia District People’s Hospital in Shandong Province caused extensive burns to a baby who was only 2 days old while bathing the infant. The nurse later concealed the incident and did not inform the parents. When the parents discovered the burns, the hospital threatened that they would not compensate if the parents did not cooperate. This incident sparked outrage online, and on December 31, the topic trended as the top search on Weibo.
According to a video posted online by Ms. Jiang, on the 21st, her second child was born. However, on the following day at 12:40 p.m., the nurse at the hospital caused severe burns to the baby during bathing, but failed to inform the parents. It was only when the child continued to cry incessantly that afternoon that they discovered the tender skin of the baby was severely burnt.
In the video posted by Ms. Jiang, it showed that the baby’s feet and buttocks were severely swollen and blistered. She expressed deep sorrow, saying, “Seeing my child’s pain breaks my heart. I cry day and night. The newborn life has been interrupted by such an incident before I even had the chance to hold him.”
Ms. Jiang’s husband, Mr. Li, explained that the nurse did not allow parents to enter during the bath and while waiting in the corridor, he heard the unusually loud cries of his son. However, the nurse did not say anything afterwards. An hour later, when the child continued crying, they found that the child’s feet were severely burnt and peeling when they opened the wraps.
After the incident, Ms. Jiang said that the hospital contacted her with a lawyer and threatened that if they did not cooperate, they would not compensate. She requested the hospital to treat the child, but instead of providing treatment, the hospital asked the family to sign an IOU and borrow money from the hospital for the child’s treatment. Later, the child was transferred to a superior hospital for treatment.
According to the official website, Qixia District People’s Hospital is a comprehensive Class A tertiary hospital with 800 authorized beds and open beds, and it currently has 860 employees.
The incident has garnered attention online. Many netizens expressed shock, with comments like, “My goodness, was the baby scalded with boiling water? It’s heartbreaking to see such injuries,” and “As a professional healthcare worker, how could they not promptly treat the child after discovering the burns? Why didn’t they inform the parents immediately?”
On December 26, Qixia District Health Bureau reported, “On December 22, during the bathing process at Qixia District People’s Hospital, an infant suffered burns due to sudden equipment failure. After the incident, the injured infant was transferred to a superior hospital for further treatment, and the nurse responsible for bathing the infant was suspended pending investigation. The hospital leadership apologized to the infant’s parents and pledged that all medical expenses during the infant’s hospitalization would be covered by Qixia District People’s Hospital.”
Furthermore, as reported by Ziniu News on the 30th, after being treated at a superior hospital, the aforementioned baby met Ms. Jiang 8 days later. Doctors informed her that new skin had grown in the burned areas. However, as the baby is still in a sterile incubator, Ms. Jiang has not been able to hold her baby until now.