KEY POINTS:
A senior nurse has countered claims by the Muliaga family that Folole Muliaga was unaware of the extent of her illness.
Middlemore Hospital charge nurse Susan Beaumont-Orr yesterday told an Auckland Coroner's inquest she had talked to Mrs Muliaga about her health before she left hospital.
A fortnight later, on May 29, Mrs Muliaga died after a Mercury Energy subcontractor cut power to the family's Mangere Bridge home.
Mrs Muliaga - who was morbidly obese - relied on an oxygen machine for up to 16 hours a day.
Ms Beaumont-Orr said she had a good rapport with Mrs Muliaga, and believed the 45-year-old understood everything medical staff told her about her condition.
Muliaga family members have previously told the inquest Mrs Muliaga did not understand she was seriously ill and at risk of dying.
Under cross-examination by Olinda Woodroffe - who is acting for Mrs Muliaga's husband, Lopaavea Muliaga - Ms Beaumont-Orr was asked if she knew Samoans would sometimes answer yes to authority figures because they respected them, even though they did not mean it.
Ms Beaumont-Orr said Mrs Muliaga was an "equal" in their conversation, asked questions and appeared comfortable talking to her. She had not spoken to Mrs Muliaga's family about her illness because that was a matter for her doctors.
She told the court she did speak to Mrs Muliaga's children and her husband about healthy eating.
When she was admitted to hospital Mrs Muliaga weighed 200kg and needed three or four nurses to move her.
"Mrs Muliaga asked me to discuss that with them ... so they wouldn't end up like her."
The closing submissions are expected to begin tomorrow.
