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A New Plymouth nurse who made a public post on social media saying that all Maori nurses do is have meetings all day and “sit on their fat asses” has canceled her registration for the next two years.
The New Zealand Disciplinary Tribunal for Health Professionals considered two charges against the conduct of Deborah Kathryn Hugill, commonly known as Debbie Newport, and ruled that several of her posts on the New Zealand Nurses Organization Facebook page in May last year were highly offensive, racist, and damaged. the manna for Maori nurses and patients in Taranaki.
The Facebook page is public and can be accessed by anyone in the public.
Some of Hugill’s posts on the page include “Maori are by far the laziest and cunning I have ever worked with”, and “Maori predominantly get the most brochures and gifts in Nursing Education.”
These comments were made in response to a news article from an online news article posted on the page.
Several experienced nurses presented evidence in court and described the posts as racist, intolerant and directed at Maori.
A nurse said the posts were directed at former Hugill employers, colleagues and patients in a way that violated confidentiality and displayed cultural disrespect.
Hugill tried to justify his actions with his own evidence.
She said the news article sparked thoughts and brought back memories. She also said the comments posted were “true” as they were taken from her own experiences and from the things she had witnessed during her career as a registered nurse.
She denied being racist or making racist comments. However, when questioned, she accepted that some of her comments were “horrible and heinous”.
But it is not the first time that she has been rejected for making offensive posts online.
In 2018, the nurse’s practice certificate was suspended for making similar comments, but she continued to work at two senior care centers.
At that time, he was unable to complete the training in cultural competence required by the Council.
The court says that failure to comply with a suspension order is an extremely serious matter and falls far short of the standards expected of a registered nurse.
Deborah Hugill was censored and ordered to pay 15 percent of the total costs of both the Professional Conduct Committee and the court.
The court has also imposed conditions that must be met before you can reapply for registration.
