SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A suspended NWT nurse said she is appealing a finding of unprofessional conduct against her because "she doesn't want the lie to win."
Madeline Heffel stands in front of the Yellowknife courthouse last week where she was appealing the suspension of her nursing licence. She said she did not commit professional misconduct when she tried to control a violent patient in Deline in 2011. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Madeline Heffel, 63, appeared in NWT Supreme Court in Yellowknife for a one-day hearing Feb. 12 to appeal disciplinary action taken against her, including an order she pay $10,000 in court costs, after a violent incident at the nursing station in Deline on July 15, 2011.
"I feel terrified, empty, angry and disconnected," Heffel said outside of court during a break in the proceedings.
"I just want to be reinstated as a member in good standing with the NWT Nurse's Association."
Heffel, who now lives near Calgary, said she has been a nurse for almost 40 years and she'd love to return to the profession. She added fighting these allegations has cost her thousands of dollars.
The incident began when Heffel and two other nurses were treating a 15-year-old boy who was suffering from hypothermia.
Court documents say he had tried to drown himself in Great Bear Lake.
RCMP had rescued the boy from the lake and brought him to the health centre.
Court documents describe a boy who was out of control, biting, kicking, scratching and spitting at the nurses.
At the appeal hearing, Heffel's Yellowknife lawyer, Austin Marshall, said Heffel was simply trying to control the patient after he had spit in her mouth.
He said that Heffel had covered the patient's face with an open hand and that she turned his head merely in an effort to keep him from spitting on her.
However, at the original disciplinary hearing, the other two nurses testified that Heffel struck the patient with an open hand, covered his mouth, pinched his nose and said, "I'll stop when you stop."
An RCMP officer was in an adjoining room at the time but did not intervene and Heffel was eventually charged with assault.
That charge was later stayed.
Despite the conflicting testimony, a board of inquiry of the Registered Nurses' Association of the NWT found last February that Heffel had committed professional misconduct.
It ruled that her conduct failed to meet acceptable standards of nursing practice. However, the board found that she was not guilty of abusing the patient. Heffel was also ordered to complete an Advanced Health Assessment Theory and Practice course.
She has not completed any such course and is also contesting whether she should have to.
Outside of court, Marshall said that Heffel's position is that she didn't do anything wrong that day and that her conduct was not below acceptable standards.
"The main goal of Ms. Heffel is to get a not guilty finding that her practice fell below standards," he said.
"If that happens, Heffel would still have to apply to be reinstated as a nurse. At the moment she's unlicensed and the reasons for that are tied up in what's going before the court here."
He said if Heffel wins the appeal, the order for her to pay $10,000 in court costs would also be dropped.
Brent Windwick, the lawyer representing the NWT Nurses' Association essentially argued at the appeal hearing that Heffel's original punishment remains appropriate and just.
Marshall said Heffel's ongoing effort to be reinstated has taken a toll on her.
"It's been monumental," he said.
"She's lived with the feeling over the past four years that time is marching on. She has fought so bravely in court, but she gets this feeling that (she) might never return to her profession."
Heffel said outside of court that she wouldn't have done anything differently that day other than ask the nurses if they had previous experience in dealing with a patient who was hypothermic.
Marshall said he has concerns over this incident as well as recent ones at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, where health care workers have been forced to subdue violent patients.
"I have a lot of sympathy for how those nurses feel," he said.
"All it takes is a few moments talking with people who find themselves in situations like that with no immediate defence at hand and the fears that can overcome them are just huge."
Justice Virginia Schuler is expected to rule on whether Heffel's conduct was unprofessional, whether she must complete the training course and if she must pay the $10,000 in court costs at a later date.
