UK nurse's suspension for praying with patients will be ended soon - employer
Caroline Petrie felt like she was just being a good Christian when she offered to pray for one of her patients. Her employer, the UK North Somerset Primary CareTrust, saw the matter differently and temporarily suspended the nurse after several complaints that she had inappropriately brought her religion into the job.
The Trust’s position has been supported by the National Secular Society, a UK pressure group that defends the rights of non-believers from religious bias in the public sphere. "Medical practitioners are, quite rightly, not to be permitted to offer religious services to patients,” Keith Porteous-Wood, executive director of the NSS, said. “Their job is to provide medical services, not use their workplace as an opportunity to 'spread the word', their word and one which may well not be shared by their patients."
“No one wants nurse Caroline Petrie sacked,” writes another NSS spokesperson Alistair McBay in a Herald letter to the Editor. “Individuals should not be used as a pulpit for personal religious beliefs.”
McBay cites the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct, which states: "You must not use your professional status to promote causes that are not related to health."
The suspension of Ms. Petrie has been controversial in the religious community, and has drawn criticism from many UK pastors. "I am upset because I enjoy this job and (prayer) is a valuable part of the care I give,” said Ms. Petrie in defense of her actions.
Today the North Somerset Primary Care Trust announced on their website that Ms. Petrie has been invited to return to her job. “It is acceptable to offer spiritual support as part of care when the patient asks for it. But for nurses, whose principal role is giving nursing care, the initiative lies with the patient and not with the nurse. Nurses like Caroline do not have to set aside their faith, but personal beliefs and practices should be secondary to the needs and beliefs of the patient and the requirements of professional practice.” Read source article here and here.