By Kotie Geldenhuys
Photo courtesy of Freepik
A Sunday afternoon scroll through Netflix a few years ago led me to The Good Nurse, a film leaving a lasting impression. The story of Charles Cullen, a trusted nurse who secretly murdered dozens of patients, revealed a chilling betrayal at the core of healthcare. Beyond the horror of his crimes lies a more unsettling question: how did a serial murderer manage to work undetected in hospitals for more than 16 years? His case exposes not only a profound abuse of trust but also a healthcare system that repeatedly failed to intervene.
Charles Cullen’s actions were not unique; as I delved deeper into the phenomenon, a disturbing pattern emerged. Across continents and decades, a small but shocking number of healthcare professionals have crossed a devastating line: transforming from healers into hunters. These rare but chilling cases of medical serial murderers expose profound vulnerabilities within healthcare systems and challenge long-held assumptions about trust, care and professional integrity.
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[This is only an extract of an article published in Servamus: April 2026. This article is available for purchase.]