The Nurse and the Police Officer
Terminated nurse spends a month in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy protest. Once back home, her reaction to a cop in her local coffee shop startles her.
Kristin Nagle worked as a nurse in Ontario hospitals for 14 years, mostly in the neonatal (newborn) ICU. She lost her job after publicly criticizing COVID-era health policies. So much for free speech and freedom of conscience. You’d think we were living in an authoritarian dystopia.
Kristin is a founding member of Canadian Frontline Nurses, an organization pushing back against one-size-fits-all medicine. These nurses say that much of what was expected of them during the COVID years violates longstanding codes of conduct concerning patient well-being, dignity, and autonomy. In Kafkaesque fashion, the same organizations responsible for those codes of conduct began targeting nurses who were striving to uphold them.
Kirsten appears in the Unacceptable Views documentary film, where she tells part of her story. Last week, she provided more detail over at the ConvoyLive website. Her account begins with a telling anecdote. A week after she’d returned home, she took her two young sons to a coffee shop:
As I waited in line I found myself beside one of our London [Ontario] Special Forces officers. Seeing his grey uniform with all the gadgets, my heart started racing. I became almost paralyzed, and tears ran down my face. I was shocked by my own response; I had been visiting this coffee shop for years and was used to seeing many different types of officers in the cafe. The officer also appeared surprised and I managed to muster, “I’m sorry for my reaction…I’ve just arrived home from Ottawa.”
“Oh, were you at the convoy?”
“Yes, for four weeks, and I was on the front lines for the last two days.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you - I want you to know many of us did not want to be there, and many refused to go.”
I could see the sincerity in his response and his heartfelt apology, and it was at this moment that I realized that the traumatic events I had been a part of still lingered inside me.
Independently, I’ve heard about police officers in other jurisdictions who refused to go to Ottawa. That really happened.
How much damage did the COVID era inflict on both nurses and police forces across this country? Were these events a tipping point, the last straw that convinced huge cohorts to
a) seek early retirement
b) strongly discourage young people from pursuing a career in those fields?
Just because no one’s paying attention to the damage doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
Kristen Nagel - I clicked the link and read her story of her experience in Ottawa. Words cannot convey the inspiration and hope I get from this courageous woman. She mentions Alexa from Rebel News, another courageous woman who was shot with a rubber bullet, apparently targeted. Thanks Donna, for reminding me of those who continue to fight for truth and justice. It helps me not lose hope, even though at times the evil and corruption at both federal level and worldwide seems crushing.
What a terrible consequence from Trudeau's dangerous government. She was traumatized and now she immediately connects the uniform to cruelty. So many people gave lost faith in the police, the courts and the medical system. What I am seeing now: Democracy was a scam all along.