Had passed many previous evaluations
When she was observed deviating from written questions to potential blood donors, a Calgary nurse was fired.
Sharon Johnston began working for Canadian Blood Services (CBS) in 1999 as a registered nurse in the organization’s Lethbridge, Alta., office before being transferred to Calgary in 2013.
Her job was as a donor screener, which meant she asked written questions in an effort to properly vet people who wished to give blood.
But during job evaluation observations on Dec. 5 and 10, 2013, Sherie Lartner, also a registered nurse tasked with making a judgement on Johnston’s routine, she was found to be unsatisfactory when she omitted certain questions and paraphrased others.
Johnston also didn’t follow standard operating procedure when she neglected to consult the donor selection criteria manual when she received an affirmative answer to certain questions. The manual contained information that was supposed to be referred to when a donor answered yes to certain questions.
A meeting was held on Dec. 11, where Johnston was asked why she failed to follow the exact script questions when screening potential donors.
She was observed to paraphrase questions about a donor’s potential sexual interactions and whether or not the donor ever had a blood transfusion in Africa, both of which would indicate a potential danger to any blood donated to CBS.
Johnston said she was screening donors the same way she had done for about 10 years and it was intended to promote better word flow and deeper understanding of the person. She had memorized the manual, so referencing it was unnecessary, said Johnston.
She had been previously observed during earlier evaluations, which Johnston passed with no issues raised.
Johnston said she did not realize she had to do it word for word.
“(It) would have been insubordination… if I felt I was doing something wrong. I didn’t know it had to be word for word. I get it now,” said Johnston during the investigation meeting.
Johnston was terminated on Dec. 18.
CBS reported having to recall hundreds of different blood products due to her actions.
The union, United Nurses of Alberta, Local 411, grieved the firing and argued any discipline should have been minor, especially considering it would have been her first-ever negative job evaluation after many years of service.
Arbitrator Tom Jolliffe upheld the grievance. “The evidence simply does not support (clinic supervisor Shelley) Peterson’s conclusion that Johnston could never be trusted into the future, a long-time professional employee with an unblemished work record to that point in time, who acknowledged and accepted her wrongdoing during the investigative process.”
A potential discipline was proposed by Jolliffe. “One might expect Johnston — a long-serving employee without any past performance issues or discipline — would have faced a relatively short suspension on a progressive discipline basis with the possibility of some retraining (or) counselling on the issue of absolutely adhering to the published SOPs (standard operating procedures) which lie at the core of clinic staff properly performing donor screening activities.”
“We conclude that it did not provide just cause for terminating the employment relationship in December 2013 of this employee with an unblemished work record over many years, excepting her handling of SOP 01043 which she had not previously recognized to be a problem, nor apparently anyone else,” said Jolliffe.
However, the arbitrator didn’t let Johnston off without assigning to her some responsibility for how the situation unfolded.
“She bears a degree of fault for failing to have already properly understood the requirements both with respect to the paraphrasing and the requirements respecting the donor selection criteria manual,” said Jolliffe.
Reference: Canadian Blood Services and United Nurses of Alberta, Local 411. Tom Jolliffe — arbitrator. Craig Neuman for the employer. Marilyn Vavasour for the employee. March 28, 2017.
