Tuesday, January 27, 2009

When in doubt "Shoot the Messenger".

Courier Mail 28 May 2007

When all else fails: make something up. This is the plight of the credible Whistleblower. Arrange for someone to discredit the Whistleblower. It doesn't matter who. It can be someone who doesn't even work with the Whistleblower. It could be someone from management who has never laid eyes on the Whistleblower. It could be someone with whom you work, but doesn't particularly like you. Perhaps they don't like Whistleblowers. It doesn't matter, as long as you stop the whistleblower from speaking out. Make up any allegations that will discredit the person speaking out. Anything will do - allegations of poor work performance, interpersonal communication problems, laziness or the big one - racism.

Next priority: Threaten the Whistleblower with legal letters from a high ranking legal firm. All paid for by the tax - payer, of course. If that doesn't work, threaten the Whistleblower with disciplinary action, dismissal, criminal offence or a fine of so many penalty units. That ought to shut them up. Even better still, arrange for a private company to investigate the Whistleblower. If the Whistleblower is a casual employee, make sure they receive no more work or that their hours are reduced. Even better, make sure they have the same type of trumped up allegations made against them. If all else fails: direct the Whistleblower not to speak about the matter to anyone else, as the matter is private and confidential. If a meeting has to be arranged with the Whistleblower, make sure they are not accompanied by any witnesses and that they are only presenting with one support person. Do not allow any recording devices.

Queensland Health's Code of Conduct or as some staff refer to it as: Code of Cover Up. Delay, deny, deceive, discredit and finally, DESTROY. Watch this space.

8 comments:

  1. Karen....why is it that any comment that has a view differeing from yours is REMOVED...What happened to FREE SPEECH??

    Why not let people read the views of other's?
    Are you afraid thay may find out not even the Queensland Nurses Union will back you? Are you afraid they may find out only a minority of Nurses at Eventide agree with you?

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  2. To the above comment
    The competant, caring nurses share Karen's views. Who cares about the Union....if you get the attention and following of the media and polititans to the degree that Karen has, only a fool would not take notice. Don't you get it, Karen is not afraid of anyone, she is the only one with the guts to speak out for our elderly. The minority as you call it at Eventide is bigger than you think, just many people are scared of repercussions if they speak out, most people have a family to feed or a mortgage to pay.

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  3. I work at Eventide, and when I say minority, I mean MINORITY.

    I know a lot of staff across the entire campus, and I can tell you, she has a lot less supporters than you and she thinks she has. As for the media...they like to sensationalise, because it sells papers and gains viewers, if the media was genuine, why have they not asked staff at Eventide what they really think about Karen?
    The politicians you refer to are the Opposition Party, of course they will back her, they will back anything that will cause embarrassment to the Government, they don't care if it true or not.
    Who cares about the Union? I'll tell you who cares, the Nurses who genuinely care about our residents are using the Union to try and get a better rostering system in place and more continuity of care. Not using our residents to get their picture on TV or in the newspapers.

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  4. Often the articles have been in free local rags, perhaps you should turn up at a whilstleblowers meeting, you might be surprised or shocked at just who is there. How do you think all of the information finds its way to people who speak out? I'll tell you, people seek out Karen, the good moral people of Eventide, and I know they are there.
    I'll bet my next pay check that you are one of the Bullies at Eventide, so keep your head in the sand and go on ignoring the issues there, a person with morals would be proving the place inocent. You should waste less time attacking whistleblowers and look around you. The purpose of TV and Newspapers is to raise awareness to the local community, not herself, people would'nt put themselves throught this for the hell of it. I must say, I did work and you sound like a member of management!

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  5. Karen seeks out people...as soon as she hears a snippet of something going wrong...she is contacting the Nurse/s involved.

    I am not one of those bullies...I am currently someone involved in a battle with Management myself.

    You would like to think I was in Management...because it would be easier to understand why I am making these comments, but I can assure you I am NOT part of Management, I am just one of the lower levels of Nurses who works on the floor caring for our elderly citizens.

    I am not ignoring issues, I just don't go out and sensationalize issues to the media....what is her objective? is it to get Eventide closed? What then for the people the staff referred to in a previous post elsewhere, those ones who were said to be frightened of speaking out, the ones with families and mortgages, they will no longer have jobs to support their families or pay their mortgages, but what does that matter to Karen, very little I'm sure.

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  6. What do staff do who are afraid to speak out? They contact SING and are speaking out through them.
    I also have bills to pay as I am the sole wage earner for my family. I have a great deal of empathy for staff in this precarious position. Therefore it does matter to me what happens to others who speak out - without support - as I have been in that terrible place. Hence the formation of the SING SUPPORT GROUP.
    You are not alone in the fact that you are "just one of the lower levels of Nurses .... caring for our elderly citizens". Many caring, credible and decent staff at Eventide SPEAK UP, but their voices are not being heard. SING gives them an opportunity to SPEAK OUT - there is is a difference.

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  7. I am guessing that the negative posts are by a NUM. Sour grapes. I hope you get your job back Karen and I would love to see their faces when you walk back in there. But, do you really want to go back there. They are all going to hell in a hand basket. Evil, spiteful, out-of-date nazi's. Most of the management there wouldn't know a resident if they tripped over one. They sit in their offices sucking up to family members and having purposeless meeting about "Quality" and "Care standards" Pffffft. Gees Hitler cared more about the Jews then Eventide does about elderly.

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  8. I agree to that last comment! Many gifted nurses who are newly employed at sunny eventide, couldn't see where the sun was shining from, due to their heads being shoved up someones bum, unless they are the three wise monkeys (hear no evil, see nothing, and definately turn mute in a moment of crises). What do you expect when we live in a state that can't have daylight savings cause the curtains will fade with the extra hour of sunlight! We should change the tourism slogan to Queensland Health.....where the bloody hell are you?

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