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Nurse posing with corpse sparks outrage

A nurse in Switzerland who posted pictures of herself on Facebook sitting next to the corpse of an old woman is coming under fire from her profession, while prosecutors say they have launched an investigation.

Published: 1 March 2013 19:15 CET

The Swiss national nurses' federation said in a statement on Friday that it was "shocked and saddened" by the actions of the nurse from the eastern city of Saint Gallen.

Saint Gallen's regional prosecutors said they were considering a criminal investigation into the nurse, whom they did not name.

The pictures were revealed on Friday by the 20 Minuten newspaper, which said they were spotted by a reader.

Among them was an image of the nurse laughing and posing at the bedside of a dead woman, apparently in a care home, alongside off-colour comments in English.

The newspaper blanked out the faces of the nurse and the dead woman, as well as the nurse's Facebook name and those of people who commented on the posting.

Other pictures posted on the woman's page — which featured what appeared to be Satanist imagery — showed her standing in front of an ambulance, sitting on a motorbike and cavorting in sado-masochist poses.

Saint Gallen's social affairs office told the Swiss news agency SDA it was shocked and concerned by the pictures, and that the location had not yet been identified.

The nurses' federation said the case highlighted broader concerns about the Swiss healthcare sector.

"To be able to prevent the repeat of such a case, there is a desperate need for an active professional register and attractive working conditions to counteract the acute shortage of staff," it said.

"Whether this was a qualified nurse, a professional carer or a simple assistant, it is clear that people like this should not be in the health sector," it added.

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EXPLAINED: How could government intervene to settle Denmark nurses’ strike?

Striking nurses demonstrate in Copenhagen on July 10th. OPhoto: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix

In a new opinion poll conducted by Voxmeter on behalf of news wire Ritzau, 27.3 percent said they supported political intervention in order to end the current industrial conflict was has almost 5,000 nurses currently striking across Denmark, with another 1,000 expected to join the strike next month.

READ ALSO:

Over half of respondents – 52.6 percent – said they do not support political intervention, however, while 20.1 percent answered, “don’t know”.

That may be a reflection of the way labour disputes are normally settled within what is known as the ‘Danish model’, in which high union membership (around 70 percent) amongst working people means unions and employers’ organisations negotiate and agree on wages and working conditions in most industries.

The model, often referred to as flexicurity, is a framework for employment and labour built on negotiations and ongoing dialogue to provide adaptable labour policies and employment conditions. Hence, when employees or employers are dissatisfied, they can negotiate a solution.

But what happens when both sides cannot agree on a solution? The conflict can evolve into a strike or a lockout and, occasionally, in political intervention to end the dispute.

READ ALSO: How Denmark’s 2013 teachers’ lockout built the platform for a far greater crisis

Grete Christensen, leader of the Danish nurses’ union DSR, said she can now envisage a political response.

“Political intervention can take different forms. But with the experience we have of political intervention, I can envisage it, without that necessarily meaning we will get what we are campaigning for,” Christensen told Ritzau.

“Different elements can be put into a political intervention which would recognise the support there is for us and for our wages,” she added.

A number of politicians have expressed support for intervening to end the conflict.

The political spokesperson with the left wing party Red Green Alliance, Mai Villadsen, on Tuesday called for the prime minister Mette Frederiksen to summon party representatives for talks.

When industrial disputes in Denmark are settled by parliaments, a legal intervention is the method normally used. But Villadsen said the nurses’ strike could be resolved if more money is provided by the state.

That view is supported by DSR, Christensen said.

“This must be resolved politically and nurses need a very clear statement to say this means wages will increase,” the union leader said.

“This exposes the negotiation model in the public sector, where employers do not have much to offer because their framework is set out by (parliament),” she explained, in reference to the fact that nurses are paid by regional and municipal authorities, whose budgets are determined by parliament.

DSR’s members have twice voted narrowly to reject a deal negotiated between employers’ representatives and their union.

The Voxmeter survey consists of responses from 1,014 Danish residents over the age of 18 between July 15th-20th.

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