A nurse has been kicked out of her profession after complaining about working with ‘monkeys’ who come from the ‘mountains and jungles’.
Rhoda Tagle made the ‘grossly offensive, prejudicial and discriminatory’ comments in Facebook posts visible to her friends and colleagues.
In several posts on January 16, 2022, the agency nurse at Worcestershire Royal Hospital said: ‘It is so difficult to work with people who came from the Mountains & Jungles..!
‘Absolutely they do not have Manners..! Upset.!
‘I won’t ruin my beauty because of those monkeys..! Their colours speaks who they are..!..! What a shame..!’
The posts caused ‘upset on the ward’ after colleagues saw them, leading to Tagle being reported to her bosses and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
A co-worker, referred to only as Ms 1, said the ‘derogatory’ and ‘discriminatory’ posts were made within an hour of Tagle completing a night shift.
Tagle was believed to have argued with another nurse during that shift.
Ms 1 said: ‘I was shocked because this behaviour didn’t tally with what I knew of her. I found the post and comments to be extremely racist.
‘I felt disappointed and upset that anyone could display that behaviour.
‘We spoke over the phone on 19 January, 2022. I explained that the Facebook posts had caused upset on the ward.’
Tagle has been struck off after appearing before the professional body’s Fitness to Practise Committee.
It found her actions ‘fundamentally incompatible’ with remaining in the nursing profession.
The panel said: ‘The Facebook posts and comments were grossly offensive, prejudicial and discriminatory in nature.
‘The panel was of the view that Mrs Tagle made several prejudicial and discriminatory comments.
‘It was of the view that the comments were also targeted and discriminatory towards people based on their race.
‘Further, with Ms 1’s confirmation, the panel was also of the view that Mrs Tagle posting the comments demonstrated intention, as well as responding to her friends under the post on the comment section.
‘The panel was of the view that it was irrelevant as to whether the post was a public post or a private post, as her ‘friends’ within the Facebook page were allowed to read it.
‘Her actions did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct.
‘The panel determined that having breached multiple provisions of the Code, Mrs Tagle’s misconduct had breached fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute.
‘The panel was satisfied that confidence in the nursing profession would be undermined if its regulator did not find Mrs Tagle’s misconduct to be serious.’
They added: ‘Mrs Tagle’s actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.
‘The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Mrs Tagle’s actions were serious and to allow her to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.’
The panel concluded the ‘appropriate and proportionate sanction’ was for Tagle to be struck off, preventing her from working as a registered nurse.
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