Saturday, January 24, 2009

Should nurses & midwives be allowed to work as a health professional once they have committed a criminal offence?

Nine msn reported on an interesting story in Victoria, regarding nurses found guilty of serious offences. This information was found through The Freedom of Information,the offences included manslaughter, sex offences and torturing animals.
Nurses in Victoria found guilty of serious offences including manslaughter, sex offences and torturing animals have been given approval to care for sick and vulnerable patients.

Nursing authorities in Victoria have in the past three years approved registration of more than 100 nurses who had admitted being found guilty of crimes including stalking, drug trafficking, possessing child pornography and manslaughter, News Limited newspapers said.


This raises several questions, what was the crime? have they repaid society for the crime? and are they now trustworthy?

Have they by the very nature of the crime, forfeited the right to work as a nurse? one could also argue,that the nurse has bought the profession into disrepute therefore should not be allowed to work as a nurse again.
Would you like this person looking after your mother, father, son, brother etc.

Off course there is the other side of the coin - they have paid the price to society for the crime, whether it be a fine or goal time and they have proven to be trustworthy. Is it then unreasonable to allow them to work as a health professional again? However, It does seem bizarre that a nurse convicted of sex offences and torturing animals would be allowed to work as a nurse again?

Do we allow policeman who have been convicted of a crime and gaoled to be re-employed as a policeman?

What do you think? should nurses & midwives who have committed a serious criminal offence be allowed to re-register and work as a nurse?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think we should allow them back to the force. but into selected areas only and with yearly psy. or counselling clearance. if the stress gets onto them again and they suddenly goes on a killing spree who is to be responsible, right? what's ur view on it?

Anonymous said...

one would have to question whether the rehabilitation process has achieved its aim in these cases. perhaps one answer would lie in allowing them to reregister under strict supervision for a period determined by the registration committee dependant on the crime committed and the level of remorse evident.

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