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April 30, 2003
"No gag order" says Health Services Minister
Health Services Minister Colin Hansen says "there is no gag order" preventing nurses from speaking out about cuts in services to patients.
The Minister made the statement April 15 to a group of nurses and reporters outside the annual general meeting of the Registered Nurses’ Association of BC.
Hansen repeated the statement on CBC-Radio April 25, after BCNU blasted the Interior Health Authority for trying to intimidate nurses who had spoken out in the media against the replacement of RNs with LPNs at an extended care facility in Salmon Arm.
In the CBC story, Hansen agreed that nurses are morally bound to reveal potential health risks to patients. But he said nurses must try to resolve problems with their managers before going to the media.
In the Salmon Arm case, nurses had already raised their concerns through proper channels on several occasions, but were ignored. That contradicts what Hansen had claimed in trying to defend the health authority’s actions.
BCNU blasted the IHA after it called two nurses into an "investigatory meeting" where they were badgered and threatened with discipline for speaking out. No discipline was imposed.
BCNU president Debra McPherson says nurses will not be silenced because we have a legal obligation to patients and to the public to speak out on their behalf.
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