A Tasmanian man has had his nursing registration cancelled after he posted a series of racial and sexually explicit social media posts, while already suspended from practice.
The Tasmanian Health Practitioners Tribunal has reprimanded Stanley Horne after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.
Mr Horne's nursing registration was first suspended on August 15, 2016, after he was referred to the tribunal by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia over allegations relating to his conduct between February 10 and 26, 2016.
Further allegations were then brought to the tribunal concerning public statements made by Mr Horne on social media between February 2017 and June 2017.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The tribunal released its findings into the case in December last year.
Mr Horne is alleged to have shared a range of sexually and racially driven, culturally offensive comments including insults directed towards women, Muslims and North Koreans.
Written submissions to the board listed more than 70 individual comments made by Mr Horne and posted on a publicly accessible Facebook page listed under his name Stanley James Horne.
In one instance Mr Horne referred to a female new presenter as a "media sl**" who was "well past [sic] her prime" and described North Korean people as "inbred rabids" and a 'brain diseased nation of thugs [that] needs to be extinguished".
He also referred to people of the Islamic faith as being in a "satanic cult" and made statements encouraging that Muslims be harmed and eliminated from society.
In its findings, the tribunal said the Facebook posts were racially, culturally, and sexually offensive and were "at odds with the standards of behaviour imposed on the nursing profession".
" ... I accept the submission made on behalf of the board that Mr Horne's statements that certain groups should be harmed or killed were fundamentally inconsistent with the values of the nursing profession, and undermines public confidence in the nursing profession," deputy chairperson Lucinda Wilkins said.
The tribunal also noted that if Mr Horne had not already been suspended, a disqualified period of three years might have been appropriate in response to his actions.
However, in the context of his earlier suspension, it found his actions to be worthy of being reprimanded and his registration as a nurse cancelled.
"Mr Horne's conduct took place over an extended period of time on very many occasions. His repugnant comments had the potential to seriously undermine public confidence in the nursing profession," Ms Wilkins said.
"For the same reasons, I accept that cancellation of Mr Horne's registration is also necessary as both a specific and general deterrent, and to safeguard the reputation of the nursing profession."
Sign up to one of our newsletters:
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
