Janet Matheson, a sexual assault nurse examiner at Regional Hospital Dr. Everett Chalmers in Fredericton, says the “dedicated,” “compassionate” nurses in the SANE program want a public apology and more nurses trained to provide critical services to victims. Matheson was responding to media coverage of a CBC story Monday about a sexual assault victim who was turned away from Chalmers’ emergency room and told to schedule an appointment for the next day. The 26-year-old woman, who CBC News is not naming, said she was still in shock after being told to go home at night, not shower or change and use the bathroom as little as possible to preserve any evidence. . Prime Minister Blaine Higgs issued a statement, describing the situation as “unacceptable” and “reflecting a process driven by very poor decision-making and a lack of compassion”. Horizon’s interim CEO and president, Margaret Melanson, also told reporters that what happened was “unacceptable” and prompted a review of how the program is managed. “There will be continuity with those working on this program, enhancing on-call planning,” as well as contingency plans, he said.
More on the story
In a Facebook post, Matheson, a registered nurse for 45 years, said it was “disappointing to see that once again, Horizon management has failed to publicly support its staff, choosing instead to drop ER nurses and now specifically the sexual assault nurse examiners, the bus.” It is also “disheartening” that Melanson and Higgs made public comments “that were misleading and painted nurses in a negative light either because they were rushing to avoid taking responsibility and placing blame where it belongs, or because they simply did not take responsibility. time or try to learn the real story,” he wrote in the post, which has been shared more than 1,000 times and generated about 150 comments, as of Thursday night. Matheson suggested there is more to the story. “There are details about this case that would undoubtedly change the public’s view of what happened from the perception left by the CEO and the prime minister, but we are handcuffed from sharing them by privacy restrictions,” she wrote, citing in the system and not the victim, he clarified during an interview with CBC, without elaborating. “At the very least, CEO Melanson should find the courage to say publicly and to the Prime Minister: ‘No Mr Higgs, what happened that night was not the result of a lack of compassion, it was the fault of a system. failing under its own weight because of the government’s inability to fix it.” There is no one who feels worse that there was no one on call from our team.- Janet Matheson, SANE nurse Matheson confirmed to the CBC that she was the nurse called that night to help the victim after a Fredericton police officer intervened. The 69-year-old, who retired in February from 45 years in full-time nursing but returns on an occasional basis, had just fallen asleep after finishing an evening shift around midnight. He arrived at the hospital within about 25 minutes to perform the forensic examination, he said. Only five SANE nurses are on the Fredericton team and manage to cover 90 percent of the 24/7 hours, Matheson said, but none were on call that night. “I just want to say, look, I work with an amazing team of five nurses and we have an amazing coordinator and … we try to do as many on-calls as we can. “And I just felt like it all kind of got carried away, you know, because [of] the feeling, you know, that, yeah, they pulled it off,” she said. “There is no one who feels worse that there was no one on call from our team.” Forensically speaking, the examination could wait until the next morning, according to Matheson. But “it’s a traumatic event and emotionally, he needed the case to be done that night.”
You want to provide the best possible care
The prime minister’s suggestion that what happened showed a lack of compassion by staff was “nothing short of a slap in the face” to nurses, whose compassion is what motivates them to “continually go the extra mile”, Melanson said. member. of the program for 16 years. Being an on-call sexual assault nurse examiner means they have to “line everything up, day or night” when a victim shows up at the hospital, she said, noting that many work full-time and have families. “And why do we do it? Because we care and want to provide the best possible care to people on their worst possible day.” “We never forget that there is a victim. She or he or anyone else, they are very much on our minds.” The “hurtful” comments were not good for morale, she said, fighting back tears. At least two nurses — one in Fredericton and one in the Upper River Valley — “have already said, ‘It’s not going to take us any longer to apologize’” than Higgs and Melanson. “And maybe some are writing resignation letters.” He is not among them – not yet. “I am very interested in this program.”
Victim defends nurses
The victim says she was saddened to see the nurses being blamed for working hard and just following policy when she was sent home. “I think we all have nurses in our lives that we love and care about and know how exhausted they are and how many extra shifts they pick up just to meet the normal amount of need that we have in our communities. “And so, that women are willing to educate themselves and participate in their normally overscheduled programs to help women who have experienced this means a lot.” She argues that the program needs more trained nurses — “and the need is not something we can ignore.” Only five nurses are trained to provide sexual assault exams at Dr. Regional Hospital. Everett Chalmers in Fredericton, Janet Matheson said. (Joe McDonald/CBC) That’s why she decided to talk about her experience, to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. She is overwhelmed and humbled by the public support and national attention her case has received, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it “appalling,” she said. “I think it makes me feel safer as a woman to know that when something that shouldn’t happen to me, no one is sitting back and being okay with it, but people are speaking up and making sure the right thing happens.” She is “cautiously optimistic” about Horizon’s ongoing review of the program, she said, after receiving a call from Melanson. “I think it shows that the policy has been harmful to women and I’m glad it’s being reported. And I’m looking forward to being informed when that changes so I’m the last woman this has happened to – even if I wasn’t the first.”
CEO praises dedicated staff, cites ‘system issues’
Melanson confirmed that he called the victim. “I commended her for being there. I commended her for her bravery and for speaking out,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Both as a woman and as a member of the community, I assured her that this is something that is taken very, very seriously by Horizon, that we have now introduced a very clear process improvement that will happen throughout this program. “ He did not give details. Asked about concerns raised on social media by health care workers who feel they are being blamed and suggestions that there is more to the story, Melanson said she commended the nurses involved in the program. Margaret Melanson, the interim president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, said she believes the victim’s call shows leadership and takes “extreme responsibility” for what is happening within the health authority. “I want to make sure these people realize that the leader at the helm of this organization is compassionate, caring, and very much wants to be a part of making sure that care is always delivered in a safe, high-quality way.” (Jacques Poitras/CBC) “They have a lot of dedication,” he said, during a break at a public accounts committee in the legislature, where Horizon and Vitalité officials fielded questions from MLAs about the health system, including the SANE program. “I would also say that this particular incident — and we’re very happy that the victim came forward and shared his story with us — highlights the gaps and issues in our system. And I certainly don’t want in any way to make anyone feel that if and is there any type of control or worse, any responsibility to be attributed to any of our staff. “Our staff are dedicated people who often do this work after long, busy shifts because they are dedicated to this program and very dedicated to the population and the need for these types of services.” As for whether she told Higgs the problem wasn’t a lack of compassion, Melanson said she and Horizon Trustee Susan Johnston met with him on Wednesday. “We covered a number of different issues and certainly the prime minister and others are aware that there were system problems behind this particular circumstance,” he said, without giving further details.
A job not for everyone
Matheson said she hopes to see more nurses trained — at least two or three more for Fredericton alone, which would reduce the amount of on-call needed. Not everyone can do it, he said, and many drop out. It requires extensive training, ongoing training and is emotionally difficult, he said, noting that the victims are sometimes children. It is also time consuming. In addition to forensic examination to obtain evidence for police investigations and medical examination, nurses also provide compassionate support, medication to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and resources for follow-up. If a case does…
