Mrs Eme Paule & HSUA v McKinnon House [1995] IRCA 103

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT OF AUSTRALIA VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY

VI 1495 of 1994

BETWEEN:

MRS EME PAULE & hsua Applicant

AND

McKINNON HOUSE Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT (EX TEMPORE) (Revised from Draft Transcript)

3 March 1995 Judicial Registrar Murphy

Background

Since 1986 the applicant has been employed as a charge nurse at the McKinnon Private Nursing Home which is conducted by the respondent. At the commencement of this proceeding, I ordered that Deslee Pty Limited (ACN 006 489 103) be substituted as the name of the respondent. On 23 August 1994 the applicant's employment was terminated and she brought these proceedings seeking reinstatement to her position and reimbursement of remuneration lost.

The applicant's position was that she works three shifts of 6 hours per week from 7:00am until 1:00pm, Monday to Wednesday.

Circumstances Leading To Termination

At 8:00pm on 16 August 1994, a locum doctor attended a patient at the nursing home and prescribed an antibiotic drug for the patient who had inflammation. The nurse on duty did not order the drug during her shift. The shift ended at 10:00pm that evening. She handed the script to another nurse, Deputy Director of Nursing Elizabeth Bretherton, who took over from her.

At 7:00am on 17 August, the applicant came on duty and the Deputy Director handed over the patients to her. She also handed over the script with instructions to obtain it from a chemist at 9:00am. The applicant's version of the hand over was that the Deputy Director said that it was not urgent. The applicant attended to her duties that morning and at 1:00pm handed over to the Director of Nursing, Mrs A. De Silva. The applicant said that she indicated in the course of her hand over that a drug had been prescribed for the patient and it was in the book to be obtained from the chemist the next day under the usual procedures operating within the nursing home.