Can we not support the demand for answers in the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha?

Caissa wrote:

What benefit is this discussion? Seems like rumor, innuendo and speculation to me.

The short answer is: When the family of a woman who worked at a hospital apparently killed herself,  and her family wants answers as to the possible involvement of the employer hospital , we should support their demands.  W should not   assume that she was some damaged personality who would kill herself for any minor reason. and assume that the employer had no part in her death.

One  reason to support the demands for answers as to the possible involvement of the employer hosptial is the point made by Unionist

Unionist wrote:

Bacchus wrote:

I am inclinded to believe the hospital when it said no action was taken to discipline the two nurses involved however given what I know about working in a enviroment with lots of coworkers, the amount of teasing and jokes she would have gotten from coworkers could have pushed her over the brink 

Given what I know about employers, it is inconceivable that the hospital didn't swiftly launch an internal investigation and haul the nurses in for interviews about what happened, why they revealed confidential patient information over the phone (no matter who they thought was on the phone), etc. - besides whatever teasing and jokes they had to endure. The fact that no disciplinary action was taken may simply be a matter of how quickly events deteriorated.

I also find their statement unusual. Why wouldn't they take disciplinary action - even if it was just a reprimand?

I am quite willing to believe that IF, note IF,  nurse Jacintha Sodanha had shown up for work for the 2 or 3 days between the call being broadcast and her death, her co-workers joked and teased with her, possibly, possibly saying they thought the whole thing quite amusing and she should not worry about it. I doubt very much the employer hospital,  with it spatron the Queen of England,  told her they thought it a joke and not to worry about it.

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the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge says it "deeply regrets" giving information about her to hoax callers from a radio station.

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The hospital said confidentiality was taken seriously and telephone protocols are under review.

.....

A hospital spokesman said: "This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."

This is embarrassing for the Edward VII hospital which up until now has been favoured by the royals when seeking medical treatment - and an unnecessary distraction for Prince William

The hospital has apologised and insisted it takes patient confidentiality extremely seriously.

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   I think the questions I raised in the original thread were valid and are still valid

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What were the days at work and nights at the nursing residence  like for nurse Jacintha Saldanha as the managment conducted its review of the telephone protocl and the breach of confidentaily that embarassed it? Was she told no probs her very minor part in putting the call through and that the whole thing was  joke, nothing to be worried about, just don't let it happen again??

Does anyone doubt that the  managment of a hospital  that regulary treats the royal family , a mangment that  was embarasssed to be the  centre of international media attention when confidential medical attention was released about a member of the royal family,  a  managment that was conducting a review of the telephone protocolm, did not  discipline or threaten to discipline a nurse involved in passing on the call?

 

Does anyone doubt the hospital played a part in the death of Jacintha Saldanha?

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Catchfire wrote:

Peter, I think you can see at least some of the reasons why some babblers would object to the way this discussion was framed. I think we can talk about this story, and I think there's valuable discussion to be had, but perhaps you'd like to try framing it differently. A humble suggestion for where to start might be a less sensationalistic thread title.

At any rate, if this discussion is to continue, I would ask that someone start a thread elsewhere.

ETA. Is this thread showing up in Active Topics for everyone else? It's not visible for me.

More than fair. It may help for people to understand that my interest in this topic flows from involvement in workers compensation. The closest I could come to a less "sensational"  new thread title would be something like: Occupational stress factors in  the suicide of Jacintha Saklanha? but I am happy to leave it up to the moderators to pick a title they consider appropriate

There is a lot of literature on  how certain factors and certain occupations such as nursing  can lead through chronic or acute stress to suicide, In this case we are dealing with a female nurse, relatively recent immigrated from India, working night shift at a hospital tending the UKs wounded vets and the royal family. Apparently she only saw her husband and children, living in Bristol,  in her free time, spending her days off at a nursing residence linked to the hospital in London. All these occupational  factors are chronic moderate to high stress.

 Then we are dealing with a short period of acute stress related to work that could have triggered suicide. The radio station  publicly claimed afterwards  they  never expected the call would be let through- nobody would believe the fake accent  of the Queen, the sound of "corgis" barking in the background etc.  However it seems the regular switchboard operator at the hospital whose job would be to screen such a fake call was temporarily away from her position at 5:30 a.m. London time when the Australian radio station called  and  nurse Jacintha stepped in for the absent operator and  essentially inappropriately possibly subjecting her to consequences  "cleared" the  release of confidential medical information from another nurse at the hospital.. It should be noted the station  claims,after reviewing the pre-recorded material with its management,  it made several attempts to reach the hospital to discuss  releasing the material but the hospital did not answer the calls.

As discussed by a psychology prof in - Causes of suicide not always straightforward By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/health/nurse-uk-suicide/index.html

"You feel ashamed; you feel frightened," Kaslow said. "To think that you got the chance to talk to one of the royals, and then it turns out you talked to people who are from the radio station, you feel like a fool."

Intense emotions of guilt and shame are difficult for people to deal with, she said. A person in Saldanha's situation may have felt ashamed, thinking she had let her country down, or afraid of what the consequences would be

We know that apart from any personal embarrassment or shame Jacintha might have experienced afterward, thinking she had let her country down and her fears of consequences  her employer was  embarrrassed,  irritated and annoyed and conducting, probably at high priority and speed,  an internal review of telephone protocol. Much of that high priority high speed internal review would likely involve the actions of the switchboard operator being away from her position, Jancintha stepping in and possibly  inappropriately, subjecting her to consequences,  "clearing"  the call and Jacintha coworker, after the call was "cleared" by Jacintha revealing confidential medical information that was spread throughout the UK and the world to the embarrassment of the royal family and the embarrassment and irritation of the  employer..

from the BBC december 5th

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20610197

The hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge says it "deeply regrets" giving information about her to hoax callers from a radio station.

....

The hospital said confidentiality was taken seriously and telephone protocols are under review.

.....

A hospital spokesman said: "This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."

 

This is embarrassing for the Edward VII hospital which up until now has been favoured by the royals when seeking medical treatment - and an unnecessary distraction for Prince William

The hospital has apologised and insisted it takes patient confidentiality extremely seriously.

It's irritated it has fallen victim to what it sees as a mean joke.

 

We do not know what the next few days and nights were like for Jacintha in this high acute  stress situation. added to the chronic stress situation. Apparently during this stressful time  there was no contact with her husband and children in Bristol or family and friends in India or any family or friends anywhere.  She may have tried to spend her nights as usual at work in the hospital with the switchboard operator she stepped in for,  the nurse she "cleared" to release the confidential information, all 3 of them part of an internal review as to a  breach that embarrassed and irritated the employer. Presumably she spent her days at the nursing residence attached to the hospital. Probably she showed signs of stress, or embarrassment,  of guilt, fears of consequence,  to her co-workers and her employer. I think how her employer dealt with someone who had been involved in, and arguably liable, due to inappropriate action, to consequences  for an incident they considered embarrassing, irritating and a violation of protocol is subject to question.