Good question, thanks. In 2004 a Black nurse won compensation after she was
prevented from caring for a baby whose mother requested only white staff to
give care to her child. The hospital respected the mother's wishes, and the
nurse objected and won compensation: -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,11374,1219135,00.html
It seems reasonable to me for a woman not to want to be examined by a man.
And it seems unreasonable to me for a patient to select the staff who care
for them on the basis of racial origin. So I'd say that patients' wishes are
very important but they aren't always paramount: they don't always override
all other considerations, for example, of just and lawful treatment of
staff.
But I'd find it hard to say exactly how patients' wishes - which are
undoubtedly highly important - should be balanced against other
considerations.
Personally, my intuition is that the judgement was good in the Black nurse
case and poor and in the male nurse case. But to state consistent principles
that would justify that intuition is very hard, I think.
Stephen James, Head of Partnerships and Diversity, Ealing Primary Care
Trust, 1 Armstrong Way, Southall, Middlesex UB2 4SA. Tel: 020 8893 0318.
Fax: 020 8893 0398. Email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Rena Papadopoulos [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 June 2006 08:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Male nurse wins court ruling...
Now here's something I must share with you! (as reported by the Sun
newspaper).
A male student nurse in England won a 'landmark' ruling on Friday
against his employer (Barts and London NHS Trust) who banned him from
examining female Muslim patients without a chaperone. A judge ruled that
it was unfair for him to be excluded from performing intimate procedures
on women simply because they could have been offended by his sex. The
student (who is now a qualified nurse but works as a financial services
salesman) was apparently made to fell 'untrustworthy' after being
refused permission to carry out an ECG on an Asian woman; he was also
asked to leave the room when another patient was having a cervical
smear. He stated after the court ruling that 'finally male nurses have
the right to be treated equally with others in the profession'. Wendy
Irwin, head of diversity and equality at the Royal College of Nursing
said that the ruling was likely to have a huge impact on hospitals and
staff in the health service. She added that the decision marks a
watershed, it sends a clear message to employers that trainee nurses
qualify to do their jobs regardless of their sex and by discriminating
against men they are frustrating talent which is not good for staff or
patients.
And I thought we were working towards building a nursing force that
provided culturally appropriate and sensitive care! I am also wondering
as to what the Nursing and Midwifery Council has to say about this. Any
comment? And what about you? Where does this leave transcultural health
and nursing?
Regards
Rena.
Professor (I)Rena Papadopoulos,
Head of Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health,
Chair, School Ethics Committee,
Editor-in-Chief Journal of Health, Social and Environmental Issues,
Programme Leader, MSc in European Nursing,
School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University,
10 Highgate Hill, London N19 5LW,
Tel: 02084116626 Fax: 02084116106
Why not visit our centre website on:
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/rctsh/
WHY NOT ENROL ON OUR NEW AND INNOVATIVE WEB-BASED (PARTLY) MASTERS IN
EUROPEAN NURSING. GO TO
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/rctsh/eu_masters_in_nursing.htm
To subscribe to our Transcultural mailing list send a message to:
[log in to unmask] with the command SUBSCRIBE TRANSCULTURAL-EUNET-L in
the message body
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