Pauline Cafferkey could be struck off

[vanillaelderberry]

here

I really sympathise with her. Must be horrendously stressful.

If she did what they allege, I have no sympathy with her at all.

I know you have to be pretty close to someone to catch Ebola, but the rules against flying whilst running a temperature for certain categories of front-line staff are there for good reason.

I do feel some sympathy but it was a reckless decision.

It's hard to believe she did what she has been accused of, but if she did then she should be struck off.

I feel that it is not in the public interest for this case to be persued. Having Ebola is enough of a punishment. Her body has been wrecked by Ebola. Is she medically fit to work as a nurse.

I feel that Pauline should be given a warning/ pardoned if it is PROVEN she deliberately lowered her temperature. It may well be that she took the paracetamol without thinking. She is human and made a mistake. Maybe working long hours in an emotionally traumatic environment made her tired and affected her judgement.

I feel that punishing Pauline too harshly will deter people from working in similar situations.

She strikes me as irresponsible and dangerously foolish, but I'm not a medical professional and I don't know her, so perhaps I'm being unjust.

"She strikes me as irresponsible and dangerously foolish, but I'm not a medical professional and I don't know her, so perhaps I'm being unjust."

I imagine that she is an imperfect human being. She was also very brave to go out to Sierra Leone in the first place. She almost lost her own life to save the life of strangers. She has more courage than the majority of mumsnetters put together. Pauline managed to save many lives at the expense of health. Surely the lives she saved should count for something.

We all make mistakes in life. Maybe she took the paracetamol with thinking it through. Prehaps the strain of looking after so many dying people and the tireless clouded her judgement. I suppose she was desperate to be home and see her family.

I feel that Pauline Cafferkey should be shown mercy and compassion. If she is found guilty then she should just be warned. It's unlikely that she will make the same mistake again. I would be surprised if she is ever medically fit to work again as nurse again. Striking her off is unnecessary.

Would people still feel 'sympathy' if she had infected a person on the plane. Who had then infected their family? Who had then infected some UK HCPs? Who infected their families?

It's not just about her and whether she would do it again. It's about about making a clear message about the utter unacceptability of disguising symptoms by HCPs.

Having seen what she'd seen makes her actions (if proven) doubly reckless imo

It's an allegation yet to be proven. The reality is that Pauline infected no body. She didn't set out to infect people with Ebola. I doubt she had any idea that she had Ebola. Thankfully no one caught ebola from Pauline. If people like Pauline had not gone out to west Africa then Ebola would have reached Europe sooner or later.

Did she set out to deliberately lower her temperature or did she take paracetamol for a complete different reason (maybe period pain).

What the purpose of making an example of Pauline? Nurses make mistakes because they are human. Yes, some of those mistakes can have catastrophic consequences. I think you punish mistakes too harshly the people will become scared to admit mistakes.

Save bring struck off for those who steal from the drugs cupboard or abuse patients. I don't think that posters on this thread realise what a nuclear option striking off a nurse is. Surely it should be an option for the most extreme gross misconduct.

Well I'm a retired nurse and if what I've read is true then IMO that is serious enough to be at least suspended if not struck off , but as the saying goes innocent until proven guilty.

It really does depend on why she took the paracetamol. If it was because she had a fever or generally unwell, she does deserve to be struck off. It was a stupid, reckless decision which could have infected many people.

If it was for sitting like period pain, twisted ankle etc, then she shouldn't be struck off.

Getting away with deliberately lowering her temp will set a very dangerous precedent.

*something like

Even if she didn't take the paracetamol to lower the temp surely she should have declared it because she knew that the outcome would be a lowered temp.

The purpose of making an example of her is to dissuade others in future (for it was only luck that meant she did not infect anyone, and this is exactly how diseases are spread internationally). And to show that international medical volunteers actually abide by the quarantine standards they are seeking to impose. If it is 'do as I say not as I do' then they could rapidly lose credibility and that is immensely bad for application of control measures.

'Would people still feel 'sympathy' if she had infected a person on the plane. Who had then infected their family? Who had then infected some UK HCPs? Who infected their families?

It's not just about her and whether she would do it again. It's about about making a clear message about the utter unacceptability of disguising symptoms by HCPs.'

This.

Sometimes the nmc come across like a big witches claw watching and waiting for someone to make a mistake so they can pounce and cause devastation and humiliation.

People have done far far worse and this is not deserving of being struck off, surely? It will put people off helping and it will put people off nursing if this is how they are treated.

If true it was a stupid mistake but the fact is she helped save a lot of lives, risked her own life and nearly died herself. That's enough of a punishment IMO. She should get some sort of caution/warning.

I think it's unlikely she'll be stuck off.

"It will people off helping"
Why would it do that

All they have to do is be honest about medication taken. Not sure how that would put people off.

Making an example of her is not good. Not impressed with the NMC. They have a reputation for striking off nurses without a fair trial.

'Sometimes the nmc come across like a big witches claw watching and waiting for someone to make a mistake so they can pounce and cause devastation and humiliation.'

Yes that's true. Nurses on the whole don't fight back and the NMC get away with it.

I think it is fair enough she should have known better than lie. I am a HCP and chain of infection is basic knowledge she should answer to her decision

She was allegedly dishonest. If it is proven that she was dishonest, that is very serious.

It doesn't matter what she was dishonest about, it is not in the public's interest For health care professional's to be dishonest and it is important that a zero tolerance approach is demonstrated to the rest of the profession

That said, if the allegations are proven and she shows insight and remorse, I think she will probably escape being struck off.

professionals - my phone keeps adding random 's!