ICU nurse slammed for yelling at crying carer for wearing her uniform in a B&M store is BACKED by Royal College of Nursing who say shopping in work clothes ‘should be avoided’
by Ross Slater For Mailonline- Kimberley Simpson claimed a B&M shopper accused her of 'spreading germs'
- Care worker said woman followed her through the store because of her uniform
- Marina Kendrick, 53, told friends that she had been enforcing the ‘nursing code’
- Royal College of Nursing said workers should avoid wearing scrubs in public
- A close friend said: 'She fully stands by what she did and she would do it again'
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
The senior ICU nurse who was sent death threats after yelling at a crying carer for wearing her uniform in a B&M store has been backed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The RCN said Marina Kendrick’s original point was valid as guidance for all nurses adding that wearing a uniform for non-work activities ‘should be avoided’.
Mrs Kendrick, 53, reprimanded Kimberley Simpson in a B&M Bargain store in Burton on Trent for wearing her scrubs in public, which Mrs Kendrick said risked spreading the virus.
After videoing part of the encounter and sharing it on Facebook, thousands of people reacted in support of Miss Simpson and Mrs Kendrick was forced to take down her social media accounts after being inundated with hateful comments. She reported a number of threats to the police.
But now Mrs Kendrick has received an outpouring of support from the public, in addition to the clarifying comments from the RCN. Miss Simpson also appears to have taken down her original Facebook post, which was viewed over one million times.
A spokesman said: ‘The particular clause states that shopping or non-work activities should be avoided whilst in uniform/workwear in the community. If this is unavoidable due to shopping restrictions in the pandemic, cover the uniform as much as possible with a coat.’
They recognised this would be more difficult for community carers such as Miss Simpson, adding: ‘If you work in a community role, it may be impractical to take off your uniform especially if you are shopping for a client, so some may cover up with a coat.’
CAN NHS STAFF WEAR THEIR SCRUBS OUTSIDE OF HOSPITAL?
'The short answer is that no NHS hospital staff should not be wearing their uniform outside of the hospital apart from the travel to work and then it should be covered,' Nicki Credland, a senior lecturer at University of Hull and chair of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses told MailOnline.
'However, there are a lot of community staff who wear a uniform as part of their normal job (district nurses for example) and this is perfectly acceptable.'
District nurses work in the community visiting people in their own homes and residential care homes.
Most NHS workers in hospitals are told not to wear uniform outside the hospital unless permitted for exceptional reasons, various trust guidelines state. This is mostly because the public can have a perception that wearing uniform outside of a healthcare setting is unhygienic.
Uniforms for hospital can be contaminated with blood or body fluids from patients in hospital. In terms of Covid-19, infected droplets from patients coughs or breathe can find their way onto scrubs and can stick to the material for a long time, if not washed.
The risk of a hospital working transmitting bacteria or a virus from their uniform is low, but not impossible.
Whether scrubs are contaminated with hazardous fluids is very dependent on the role of the member of staff, and will guide when they should remove them.
Dark blue scrubs must only ever be worn in an operating theatre, whereas light blue scrubs can be worn around the hospital but never to and from work. Green scrubs can be worn in public but must be covered up by a coat, official guidelines say.
Amid the pandemic, NHS workers have been told to not wear their uniform in public because the public may accuse them of being ‘virus spreaders’, The Telegraph reported.
Friends of Mrs Kendrick said that part of the encounter that was not filmed included Miss Simpson claiming she was doing essential shopping for a client.
But a friend of the 53-year-old nurse added: ‘Her trolley contained a BBQ grill set so it was unlikely to be for a client and Mrs Kendrick made that point.’
Mrs Kendrick was also defended by one of her former students, who called in to a discussion on the Jeremy Vine Show.
The woman, a nurse called Ellen, said: ‘The video did not display the whole of the conversation. Those who are making comments have not been given the full story.
‘Knowing the lady personally, I know that she wouldn’t be spitefully saying these things, it would be because she is a very passionate individual about what she does.
‘The first thing that was installed in us as students was that wherever you are going, if you are in your PPE and you are going out of a clinical setting, you must be covered up, whether that’s a jacket, cardigan or any other form of clothing you can put over the top.
‘As an ex community staff nurse that is what I did because you do not know where an individual carer has been.’
Covering a uniform is also thought to protect the carer so they do not become pressured into acting outside of their ability in an emergency.
After the video was viewed over a million times on Monday and Tuesday, Mrs Kendrick received 32 separate threats on Messenger which she reported to the police.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: ‘Officers received a report of malicious communications from a woman at around 11.20am yesterday (26 May).
‘A number of abusive messages were sent to the woman on social media following an incident in a shop.
‘Officers have spoken to the woman and given advice.
‘Sending threatening or abusive messages could amount to a criminal offence and should be reported to social media website administrators and police.’
Mrs Kendrick told friends that she had been enforcing the ‘nursing code’ and could not believe the backlash against her as she has had to report to the police dozens of threats, including death and rape after the incident.
A close friend said: ‘She fully stands by what she did and she would do it again. People can call her whatever they like but she regards it as being part of her nursing code – to protect her patients and uphold her profession. That is what she signed up to do.’
Mrs Kendrick, who was head of nursing at a vocational training company before retraining as an intensive care nurse, was queuing for the till when she spoke to carer Kimberley Simpson to express her view that she should not be wearing her uniform in public.
Miss Simpson captured part of their altercation on video and shared a post about it.
Another friend of the 53-year-old nurse, who until February was senior lecturer in adult nursing at the University of Wolverhampton and is married with two grown-up children.
They added: ‘I have spoken to Marina and I know she is traumatised by what happened.
'She has had to delete all her social media due to the volume of hatred being directed against her.
‘She was sent 32 separate threats on Messenger which included death and rape before she took down her Facebook page.
‘There have even been people calling for her to be refused NHS treatment. The ignorance is stupefying.’
The flashpoint came yesterday afternoon as both women queued with items at B&M Bargains.
Noticing her uniform and her lanyard, Mrs Kendrick asked Miss Simpson if she worked in a hospital before pointing out that she should not be shopping in her work uniform.
Her friend said: ‘She made the point because she is an educator and a nurse and even before Covid the guidance for all uniform wearing nursing staff was to cover up their uniform in public.
‘There are two reasons for this – infection control and to protect the nurse themselves for if somebody had a heart attack in a shop, others would see the uniform and might expect them to do things which were beyond their level of competence.
‘She fully stands by what she did and she would do it again.
'People can call her whatever they like but she regards it as being part of her nursing code – to protect her patients and uphold her profession. That is what she signed up to do.’
In her post, Miss Simpson said: ‘All I've done is cry this afternoon, whether I should delete this post or not.’
The friend of Mrs Kendrick added: ‘All people see is a pretty girl who is crying crocodile tears after the event.
‘She ought to take down her post. I believe she has been asked to but has so far refused.
'Marina did not follow her around the shop, just tried to have a quiet word and what has followed has been shameful.
‘Marina is so dedicated to nursing that she put her own family at risk by going back into clinical practice after 15 years of teaching nursing so she could join the fight on the frontline.
‘She is one of the heroes we all clap every Thursday and now the mob have reduced her to living in fear.
Mrs Kendrick lives with her husband in a smart detached house near Burton-upon-Trent.
She had been senior lecturer in adult nursing at the University of Wolverhampton until February of this year when she was recruited to be head of nursing at Impact Futures, a national private sector training provider.
That role had barely started when the Covid pandemic struck and Mrs Kendrick immediately volunteered herself for the frontline, undergoing a re-training programme to prepare her for re-entering clinical wards after 15 years of teaching.
Since then she has been working in ICU at the Burton Hospital NHS Trust.
Impact Futures proudly shared a post of their 'Head of Nursing' in full PPE gear in ICU.
A spokeswoman for the University of Wolverhampton confirmed that Mrs Kendrick had been a senior lecturer in nursing until February.
Sharing footage of the incident to Facebook, Ms Simpson said she was 'disgusted' by the shopper's behaviour.
She added: 'I know I'm an ugly crier, but this lady has just followed me around B&M shouting at me saying I'm not allowed in the shop because I'm in uniform.
'Apparently I'm not allowed to buy non-essential items, how does she know I'm not doing client's shopping?
'Apparently I spread germs before and after Corona, and she's reporting me to my manager who I've just spoken to, and they said I'm not doing anything wrong.
'We have worked so hard, no clients have Covid-19 so we are clearly doing something right. She shouted at me for a good ten minutes before I decided to film her because she was following me.
'No staff in the shop helped me, no one stuck up for me, a Polish couple told me not to cry bless them and said she's stupid.
'I feel really disgusted at this lady's behaviour, I have done nothing wrong.'
According to an NHS England document published on April 2, there is 'no evidence that wearing uniforms outside work adds to infection risks.'
It added, however, that 'public attitudes indicate it is good practice for staff to change at work or cover their uniforms as they travel to and from work.'