CFN – Cornwall Ontario’s CAO Paul Fitzpatrick’s fave Lawyer, Fay Brunning was in town to speak at a local meeting of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario meeting at a local eatery.
The topic? Elder Abuse and the challenges nurses have to deal with especially when their oaths and duties to their patients can potentially come into conflict with that of their employers.
Always an interesting comment from Ms Brunning.
Video Interview from April 11, 2012
Ms Brunning had an article appear in the RNAO which we reprinted here on The Cornwall Free News LINK where she talked about the Diane Shay case which exposed Cornwall CAO Paul Fitzpatrick’s lying to the media and how difficult whistle blowing can lead to; especially when it’s the person in charge of whistle blowing that’s being punitive.
From her story which was a case of alleged Elder Abuse at the Senior’s home run by the City of Cornwall:
… Shay asked Ontario’s Ministry of Health to appoint an external monitor to provide ongoing whistleblower protection because the City’s chief administrative officer, one of the retaliating managers, misled the public and the media when he was quoted in print as stating that resident abuse had not been found. In addition to Lodge management again not recognizing the resident abuse, that statement also inferred that Shay stirred up a fuss about nothing.
How big an issue is Elder Abuse becoming and do you think Mr. Fitzpatrick should be held accountable for his role in the Diane Shay and other cases he’s impacted and alleged by city Councilor Andre Rivette to have cost the community $1.4 Million dollars?
You can post your comments below.
Didn’t they get rid of Fitzpatrick?
Ontario’s population of residents aged 65 and over is projected to more than double by 2036. As this segment of our population continues to increase, reports of elder abuse are skyrocketing.
Neglect can be intentional (active) or unintentional (passive) and occurs when a person who has care or custody of a dependent senior fails to meet his/her needs. Forms of neglect include: withholding or inadequate provision of physical requirements, such as food, housing, medicine, clothing or physical aids; inadequate hygiene; inadequate supervision/safety precautions; withholding medical services, including medications; overmedicating; allowing a senior to live in unsanitary or poorly heated conditions; denying access to necessary services (e.g. homemaking, nursing, social work, etc.) or denial of a senior’s basic rights.
Physical Abuse:
Any physical pain or injury that is willfully inflicted upon a person or unreasonable confinement or punishment, resulting in physical harm, is abuse. Physical abuse includes: hitting, slapping, pinching, pushing, burning, pulling hair, shaking, physical restraint, physical coercion, forced feeding or withholding physical necessities.
Other Forms of Abuse:
Systemic Abuse – Our society, and the systems that develop within it, can generate, permit or perpetuate elder abuse. Most prevalent is discrimination against seniors, due to their age and often combined with any of these additional factors: gender, race, colour, language, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, ability, economic status, or geographic location. The only two legislated
The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care- has a zero tolerance policy on Elder Abuse and all or suspected cases of abuse must be reported within 10 days.
Residents Bill of Rights
Every resident has the right to be treated with courtesy and respect
and in a way that fully recognizes the resident’s individuality and
respects the resident’s dignity.
2. Every resident has the right to be protected from abuse.
3. Every resident has the right not to be neglected by the licensee or staff. [New]
4. Every resident has the right to be properly sheltered, fed, clothed, groomed and cared for in a manner consistent with his or her needs.
5. Every resident has the right to live in a safe and clean environment.
6. Every resident has the right to exercise the rights of a citizen.
7. Every resident has the right to be told who is responsible for and who is providing the resident’s direct care.
And so much other items….
What stands out in the interview is that the Ontario Nurses Association has a code of conduct that it adheres to which each individual nurse is accountable to. Ms. Brunning stated that they have a moral and ethical obligation to adhere to that code. Therefore Ms. Shay, being a person with integrity, had no other alternative than to report the abuse and to continue to work towards just treatment of the elder otherwise she would have violated her own code of conduct.
That being said, how can it be that we have a society where a code of conduct is not seared into every individual’s consciousness and causes them to feel accountable to a higher authority? Might it be this very issue which is the root cause of all the disorder we see in the world today?
Although I have lived here for nearly two years only I do take my responsibility seriously in terms of being held accountable for what happened to Ms. Shay as this matter is not over. She has not been given the satisfaction of being treated in a just, equitable, kind and loving manner which is what she is asking for and what our society owes her. She has not been paid the courtesy of an apology. She is waiting for that. As a citizen of Cornwall I demand that we –who are “The City” apologize to Ms. Shay. We have to start somewhere to right the wrongs that have been committed. We have to take personal responsibility for the mess we are in, no one is coming along in shining armour on a battle horse to save us, people, we have to do it ourselves. So, wake up and get at it! We have to organize a response to injustice that is coherent.
Thinking about this issue in terms of the moral and ethical responsibility- we have allowed ourselves to be duped, misled, put off and dismissed by those we have elected. I say this because a sense of shame is so important in terms of a starting point for doing the right thing. Shame guards us from whatever is unworthy and unseemly, not everyone has it but those who do need to get together. Shame coupled with the fear of God, in terms of fearing to displease the Creator, is the common code of conduct and the basis for the moral and ethical dimension of being a responsible citizen. We are not puppies whose noses should be rubbed in their mess when they do something wrong, we each have our own conscience to whom we are accountable, and we are also accountable to the greater good of our society and our City. I hope that we begin to take our responsibility seriously as soon as possible.
I totally agree with Ms. Barr. As far as I’m concerned, Ms. Shay did the right thing. She is obviously a caring individual with a conscious; she did what was ethically and morally right. It’s very unfortunate that she was treated in this manner and was a victim of retaliation. As a resident of Cornwall I’m truly disgusted with the inactions from the City of Cornwall. The City did not respect the Residents Bill of Rights and did not follow the proper procedures, instead, chose to keep the situation hidden, punished the person who came forward to report it, and finally it came back to bite them, who looks bad now? As far as I’m concerned the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care should have given a stronger penalty directly to the persons who made the decision to turn a blind eye or eyes.
I hope that through all of this, the individuals from the City of Cornwall have learned that you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
MS Shay, what happened to you was unfair and I would like to thank you on behalf of all the vulnerable seniors. I agree with Ms. Barr, you need an apology from the City of Cornwall but I wouldn’t count on it for all its worth. What should be rewarding to you is the fact that you acted in the best interest of your patient and you should be proud of yourself and I was once advised by a very wise man, that what goes around comes around.
Glad to see Ms. Brunning championing the cause of whistleblowers and the press covering the staggering tax payer waste to protect those who retaliate. My organization commented on this case last year, applauding the Ms. Shay, her lawyer and the press. (Put Canada into the website search engine-4 stories)
These same problems occur in the U.S. but there are no human rights law provisions in our law. However, here is an article on one legislators efforts to create new laws after California State University spent 9 Million on a handful of retaliation cases. Total tax payer funds wasted!
http://whistlewatch.org/2012/04/california-state-university-fails-to-protect-whistleblowers-who-report-fraud-senator-leland-yee-sponsors-new-whistleblower-bill/
http://whistlewatch.org/2012/04/california-state-university-fails-to-protect-whistleblowers-who-report-fraud-senator-leland-yee-sponsors-new-whistleblower-bill/