Search: Prayer Nurse Patient
A nurse who was suspended after offering to pray for a patient has gone back to work vowing to continue asking for divine help for the sick.
Caroline Petrie, 45, was ordered to stop practising last December after an elderly patient voiced concerns about an offer of a prayer.
Mrs Petrie, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset was suspended after the patient said she was "taken aback" by the suggestion and worried others might be offended.
After an inquiry North Somerset Primary Care Trust decided the bank nurse believed she was acting in the best interests of her patients and could return to duty.
The mother of two said she was relieved the issue had been resolved and was looking forward to going back to the job she loves.
She told the Western Daily Press: "In a way it was good to be able to talk things through with my bosses and now we all know where we stand I think it will be easier.
"I can still pray for my patients as long as I keep within the boundaries of the care plan and ask them first whether they have any spiritual needs."
She said she would have no qualms about returning to treat the 79-year old woman who complained.
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She made the prayer offer to the pensioner while attending to her dressings. That triggered a disciplinary hearing in January during which she was accused of failing to show a "personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity".
Mrs Petrie added: "There's no air of awkwardness or anger so of course I will go back and do her dressings again - I just know now not to offer to pray for her."
