Anti-vaxx nurse struck off

Ms. Shemirani has done more than discuss Covid and vaccinations, etc. She was one of the organisers of at least one of the anti-vaxx demos in London, where she spoke publicly and criticised the NHS. She is also very active on social media. Her behaviour quite clearly undermines the work of the NHS.

IMO it is absolutely right that she has been struck off. If I am receiving NHS, I want to know that the people treating me are following NHS guidelines, in which Ms Shemirani has quite clearly stated she doesn't believe. If people want to follow her "health advice", that's up to them, but it shouldn't be under an NHS banner.

Teachers, military personnel, police officers, civil servants etc. all have to eschew actions that bring their profession into disrepute.

The Code of Conduct for nurse states specifically that nurses should ‘uphold the reputation of your profession’. Ms. Shemirani is not being penalised for her ‘opinions’, but because, amongst other pejorative claims, she has stated publicly on a number of occasions and a variety of platforms that NHS nurses are working for ‘the new Auschwitz’.

Ellan Vannin I trained to be state registered nurse beginning 1948 . I did not have to take any oath .
I assume the oath you took outlined the basic ethics?
It seems to me to be a very good thing that any professional person knows [explicitly] the ethics of their chosen profession. I gather nurse education is just that, not 'training' as it was formerly called. Education should include ethics or it is not education.

Line

Drawing the ki e isnt easy, should nurses who discuss the vaccine be struck off?

Discussion v promotion, it then falls to the employers to make that distinction.
Each case should be looked at on its merit.
The NHS did the right thing in this case imv.

mumofmadboys

I think it's a bit harsh to say it serves anti-vaccine folk right if they become ill with covid.

Why?
If we all have a choice, we must make ourselves aware of the consequences of that choice.
Which in this case is a higher risk of contracting g and spreading it.

Galaxy

I think its reasonable to be sacked for slagging off your own employer on social media but I am not sure I am comfortable with people being sacked for spouting nonsense conspiracy theories.

Do no harm is the doctrine (no pun intended) isnt it?

I agree with Grannyactivist. I wonder how long and how far your line would stretch Galaxy?

I totally agree they have made an ill advised decision

I think it's a bit harsh to say it serves anti-vaccine folk right if they become ill with covid.

So it would have been fine if she wasnt in a nurses uniform. Look I think she is talking nonsense and offensive nonsense at that. Drawing lines is not easy, should nurses who discuss anti vaccine theories be sacked, forget the uniform and the slagging off her own employers which was particularly spectacular, what about if she had simply been saying she believes the vaccine is dangerous. I dont believe that to be clear but I am interested where the line us drawn and more importantly who draws it.

Nurses have to sign an oath before beginning their job---I remember having to, so any form of misconduct gets you an immediate dismissal.

Thank you Grannyactivist my point exactly!

She can hold whatever opinions she likes, but when dressed in her nurse’s uniform and thereby appearing to give her professional opinion that her nursing and medical colleagues are ‘criminals, liars and murderers, akin to the third reich’, she must have known that she was breaching professional standards.

A mental health issue there obviously.
Someone else, a man, was acting like her and he's now seriously ill with Covid. Serves them right I say. Pride comes before a fall, every time.

Galaxy

As long as you are comfortable with sacking people for holding opinions and expressing them in public. But you need to know that one day that will apply to your opinions. It's very complex. It would be lovely if it was simple.

Please do not distort the facts.

She was not sacked for holding opinions
When you belong to a professional body, you should not bring that body or the profession into disrepute - which is what she has done.
There is a clear distinction.
Her social media accounts were taken down and she was suspended from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in July last year for spreading misinformation.
Now a NMC committee has ruled that her misconduct was so serious that she should be struck from the nursing register permanently.
It ruled that her fitness to practise as a registered nurse was impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds.

Galaxy

I am fairly wary of people being struck off for their opinions. Same with the cricketer thread.

When I was HR manager for a local business my philosophy was you can think what you want but while you are taking the money you tow the line. If they wanted to go against company ethos I expected them to make sure it didn't link to business.

As long as you are comfortable with sacking people for holding opinions and expressing them in public. But you need to know that one day that will apply to your opinions. It's very complex. It would be lovely if it was simple.

That's absolutely spot on Maw re the professional dimension
But on a more practical level, I would question her decision making skills and thought processes.
I don't think that she is up to dealing with the public in such a possibly dangerous capacity.
She sounds a complete and utter liability, an accident waiting to happen.

Galaxy

I dont agree with her and I am sure she has broken all sorts of professional standards but when you get into sacking people for opinions then you end up with the cricketer who I am sure also had a code of conduct to adhere to. It's a bigger picture than the damage one conspiracy theorist can do.

As you say, she has breached professional standards. She was not sacked for holding her opinions, but expressing them in public, in nurse’s uniform, backed up by her qualifications, thereby attaching a professional dimension.

I think when you have someone whose profession means people will believe what they say spreading advice that is likely to cause serious illness or death you can't ignore it.

She used to work for the NHS, now promotes herself as an ‘aesthetic nurse practitioner’ with links to Flawless Me Ltd, a ‘beauty’ company.

There are certain professions that overlap into your private life. Nursing, police, and teaching are some of them where you are expected to uphold certain standards the whole time. This nurse was in definite breach. Her opinion would have carried more weight for some because of her being a nurse and could cause harm.. It was right that she was struck off for not adhering to the professional code of conduct.

People are more likely to listen too and believe a health care professional so I think it's right that she's been struck off.

I think its reasonable to be sacked for slagging off your own employer on social media but I am not sure I am comfortable with people being sacked for spouting nonsense conspiracy theories.