Nurse Appeals Against Dismissal

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 517, 21 November 1928, Page 13

Nurse Appeals Against Dismissal

CASE TO BE REOPENED HEATED DISCUSSION Nurse E. A. Blackie, who was dismissed from the hospital staff by a special committee appointed by the Auckland Hospital Board, for sending a letter to a prisoner in Mount Eden Gaol, will have a | chance to protest against her dismissal at a special meeting of the board on Monday evening. The letter she had written to the prisoner was alleged to have contained an indiscreet reference to the lady superintendent of the hospital. A special committee consisting of the chairman, Mr. W. Wallace, the medical superintendent, Dr. C. E. Maguire, and the lady superintendent, Miss A. Taylor, were appointed a special committee with power to act in dealing with the breach of discipline, and decided to dismiss Miss Blackie. At yesterday’s meeting of the board the chairman. Mr. W. Wallace, said a letter had been received by the board from Miss Blackie. “It has been said that Nurse Blackie has seen members of the board about this,” said Mr. Wallace, “and it *has been said she has men of financial standing behind her. That has nothing to do with the question. It doesn’t frighten me if they are the biggest capitalists in the land.” In her letter Miss Blackie said the prisoner" to whom she had w ritten had been a former patient at the hospital, and had been a great help to the. nurses, doing odd jobs for them. When he was taken away they all missed him very much and she wanted to give him something to show her appreciation. At first she thought of a pair of slippers, but, as she was not financial, she sent him a packet of cigarettes with a note. She had used the form of address, “Hello, old chap,” merely because she could not bring herself to call him “Mr.” WENT WITHOUT LEAVE Nurse Blackie further stated she had been caught on one occasion when she entered the nurses’ home late. She had been to a 21st birthday party and the girl whose party it was had been refused late leave, so tliey had gone without asking. They were caught when they returned and lost their day off. The letter concluded. “I would ask the board to reconsider my case in view of the explanation I have made. I admit my letter was most indiscreet, but I think that to have my character and my career destroyed, and to be dismissed at a moment’s notice is too severe a punishment for what I have done ” Mr. S. J. Harbutt said the nurse should have been heard by the committee. “I don’t stand for any nurse being dismissed without being heard. This case has been irregular. lam not justifying her, because I think her letter casts a slur upon the nursing profession, but we should have seen and heard the girl. She has been treated in a cruel and harsh manner,” he concluded. Mr. M. J. Coyle said the committee had been given power to act, and they had acted. The question was whether the committee was prepared to reconsider the case. The Chairman: There are other masters also. This is not the only incident. He then referred to Nurse Blackie’s statement that she had been dismissed without her wages. “That is untrue,” he said. “The money has never been applied for. It is there and if she'wants it she can get it.” GIRL’S RIGHT OF APPEAL Mr. M. J. Savage: This is not merely a matter of regulations. The board is not altogether free from blame. On the surface it seems a pretty severe punishment and the board should permit the girl to appear and state her case. Even in a criminal court they have the right, of appeal. However, the committee had power to act. and acted But I would break a thousand laws and regulations to see justice done. If there is no more in it than her letter conveys, the sentence is too harsh. The chairman says there is more than that, though.” Mr. M. Laing he did not think it was anybody.’s business to whom the girl wrote. Mr. Coyle said that though Mr. Wallace had always been just and fair, he considered he had made a mistake this time. He believed that .Miss Blackie’s morals were of a high standard, but that she had been silly and indiscreet. If it had been a junior doctor or someone higher up the ladder there would not have been a dismissal. Mrs. A. Kidd said the hospital was a training ground and discipline had to be maintained. She thought the girl should be heard. Mr. E. H. Potter, who moved the resolution at the meeting of the board in committee, said the wrong interpretation had been put upon the resolution. He had meant the girl to have a chance to state her case, but the committee had simply dismissed her. The right to appeal should be allowed. The Chairman: They’re all doing things now it’s too late. The girl referred to the matron in the letter as “going soft.” I am sorry this has arisen, but if w© don’t back the matron up. away goes discipline. Mr. Harbutt suggested the hour of leave should be extended to 11 p.m. That Miss Blackie be given the chance to be heard was then moved by Mr. Potter and carried. Before the matter was dropped Dr. Maguire said that at the’meeting when the case was first brought up he asked if the girl would have a chance to resign, but the board said no. A special meeting of the board will be held on Monday evening, when Miss Blackie will state her case.