" Carry on Praying " starring nurse Caroline Petrie

[bozo]

The Daily Mail, one of the very worst right-wing rags in the UK press, ran a story last week to champion the cause of " devout christian " nurse Caroline Petrie.
Said nurse had been suspended by her employer, the North Somerset Primary Care Trust for breaching her professional code of conduct, specifically that part that relates to equality and diversity.
Not for the first time, this nurse was caught pushing her faith onto the patients in her care.
She was reported for asking an elderly patient if she, the patient, wanted her to pray for her. The patient declined the offer, but the nurse indicated she was going to offer prayers anyway, because she always does!
The patient in question quite rightly pointed out that such an offer might panic a patient into thinking his/her condition was so bad that only divine intervention might save him/her.
The Daily Mail, true to its reactionary agenda, was in outrage and filled its pages lambasting the employer and defending the nurse ( including Mary Poppins-stlye photos of the sweet angel ).
The Mail's tactics have paid off, it seems, as the employer has retreated and asked the nurse to return to work, albeit they reitterate that she should keep her faith separate from her profession.
Nurse Petrie, however, is quoted as saying that she intends carrying on praying for her patients, claiming that she shouldn't have to choose between her faith and her profession. She also claims prayer works, quoting the case of a woman patient whose urine infection cleared up days after she prayed for her!!!!!
Such women are dangerous, in my view, and should not be allowed anywhere near " normal " patients.
What do you think?

[Tiberius]

She also claims prayer works, quoting the case of a woman patient whose urine infection cleared up days after she prayed for her!!!!!

Oh dear...oh dear...oh dear.

I wonder why she forgot to mention the man who regrew his arm or was miraculously cured of cancer?

[leo-rcc]

"I gave the man antibiotics and prayed for him every day and he miraculously got better."

[Kyuuketsuki]

I don't have any particular problem with someone offering to pray for me as long as they respect my wish not to be prayed for (and the consequent formal complaint carried through to dismissal) if that is refused.

The Daily Heil is pathetic as usual ... I actually almost gave up and bought it today purely because it has a DVD of the classic war film "Ice Cold In Alex" but my principles wouldn't let me!

Kyu

[LondonLoves]

The Daily Heil is pathetic as usual ... I actually almost gave up and bought it today purely because it has a DVD of the classic war film "Ice Cold In Alex" but my principles wouldn't let me!

Kyu

Mate, don't let your principles stand in the way of getting a free DVD! I've bought the Daily Mail several times for that very reason. I've even bought the Daily Mail for weekly runs to get the Free DVD offers (the entirety of the World At War, Brief Encounter and lots of David Attenborough stuff). The Daily Mail is truly brilliant for offers, notwithstanding the fact that it's a newspaper stuffed with hatred towards immigrants, blacks, browns, Muslims, Jews and the working classes. Remember Yes, Minister:

"The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country, The Times is read by the people who actually run the country, The Financial Times is read by the people that own the country, the Guardian is read by people who think foreigners should run the country and the Telegraph is read by people who think it actually is..."

With regard to the nurse, she should have been sacked. I'm a solicitor and if i started preaching Christianity or any other theism or atheism to people during the course of my work i'd be sacked -- my clients don't want to know my opinion on religion when we're negotiating a share purchase. "I realise that the cross option agreement isn't going the way you planned, but i'll prey that it all goes right". I don't see why, merely because it's a local health authority, she is being treated differently. Perhaps they're paranoid about a religion or belief claim -- local authorities are notoriously easy to sue.

[moodydaniel]

It's a decision for her managers, they know the details and how they impact upon the job.

[bozo]

Another important aspect of this story is to do with how christians in the uk feel themselves to be discriminated against, both in the workplace and beyond. Their simple logic is that this country is a " christian country " and that anything promoting christianity is untouchable. They are particularly pissed off that other faiths, most prominently muslim nowadays, have managed to restrict some of that christian freedom.
Just recently, the bus driver, who refused to drive the bus with " our " advert on, refused not on the basis that he was offended by the message that God probably doesn't exist but rather by making a comparison to how offensive it would have been to a muslim! ( thereby
diluting the actual message and turning the attention to faith rather than lack of faith ).

Checked the Mail today at work ( I didn't buy it!!! ) and the debate is still going on in the letter pages but biased in favour of the nurse, of course ).

[butterfingersbeck]

Look, if God existed, prayer wouldn't be necessary! If He is truly omniscient, benevolent and omnipotent, prayer is by definition redundant. If you need to PRAY to have any hope of POSSIBLY getting things done IF He's in the right mood then you may as well leave the whole thing to semi-random processes. Which looks to me pretty much like the result of praying.

[bozo]

Whilst nurse Petrie was reinstated, returned to work ( still intent on carrying on praying for patients ) and became a christian hero, some rougher justice has been meted out to nurse Margaret Haywood, who has ben struck off the nursing register, lost her job at the Royal County Hospital in Brighton and is in danger of being sacked from her job with a private health company for the " crime " of whistleblowing by means of secretly filming atrocious conditions that her elderly patients were being subjected to at the Brighton hospital.
A good example of the corrosive effect of religion.

[Atheismo]

Personally, I think that things like this should not be so lightly handled. In my opinion, Mrs. Petrie should have been warned once (just to be fair) and then, at a second offense, been fired.

I know that it is illegal for companies to hire and fire employees based upon their religious affiliation, or anything else of the like. But I think that the second that something like this interferes with one's work, it should be considered that the employee in question lose their job.