Canadian Health System At Work: Nurse Fined For Criticizing Grandfather’s Palliative Health Care

By: Aedan O’Connor

A registered nurse in Saskatchewan, Canada was found guilty of misconduct after complaining on Facebook about her grandfather’s palliative care. Carolyn Strom has been fined roughly $19,000 by the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association.

On February 25, 2015 Strom made a post to her personal Facebook detailing and criticizing the treatment of her grandfather by the staff at St. Joseph’s long-term care facility in Macklin, SK. The post read:

“ ________ “spent a week in “ _______ ” before he died and after hearing about his and my family’s experience there  __ __ ____ ____ _______ it is evident that Not Everyone is “up to speed” on how to approach end of life care . . . Or how to help maintain an Ageing Senior’s Dignity (among other things!) So … I challenge the people involved in decision making with that facility, to please get All Your Staff a refresher on this topic AND More. . . . to those who made ________ last years less than desirable, Please Do Better Next Time!. . . And a caution to anyone that has loved ones at the facility mentioned above: keep an eye on things and report anything you Do Not Like! That’s the only way to get some things to change. The fact that I have to ask people, who work in health care, to take a step back and be more compassionate, saddens me more than you know!”

She also added this comment in response to her Facebook page:

“ … And this has been an ongoing struggle with the often subpar care given to __ X
 ___ (especially ___ ) for many years now . . . Hence my effort to bring more public attention to it (As not much else seems to be working.) As an RN and avid health care advocate myself, I just HAVE to speak up! Whatever reasons/ excuses people give for not giving quality care, I Do Not Care. It. Just. Needs. To. Be. Fixed. And NOW!”

She continued:

“. . . “Why do you do your job?” “Do you actually care about the people you WORK FOR/Care For?” “Or is it JUST A JOB, WITH A PAYCHEQUE?” . . . If so, maybe it’s time to take a step back. 
Either way I just want (and everyone else in that facility) to be treated well, ALWAYS!”

St Joseph’s staff became aware of Strom’s post when a receptionist found the post and printed it out. The Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association discipline committee in its written decision said it did not “seek to ‘muzzle’ registered nurses from using social media or for that matter, any form of public comment. However, registered nurses making public comments and criticisms (in whatever forum) must do so in accordance with the Code of Ethics and Standards.”

Strom was found guilty of professional misconduct and ordered to pay the fine or have her nursing license suspended. Since then a Go Fund Me account has been set up for her; by April 18, 452 donors had contributed $26,150, enough to completely cover her costs.

Strom plans on appealing the decision.

Canada’s healthcare system is deeply flawed. It is single payer, which means it is almost completely covered by taxes instead of private insurance companies. Some of the numerous problems include: increased wait times to receive medical attention; doctor shortages; and subpar treatment of patients in healthcare facilities. Statistics Canada found that roughly one-fifth of patients who visited a specialist and about 11 per cent of those waiting for non-emergency surgery were adversely affected by their wait.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/15634/canadian-health-system-work-nurse-fined-aedan-oconnor