The nurse who was sent home after she reported for work without false teeth has people chattering both here and abroad.
|||Cape Town - The nurse who was sent home after she reported for work without false teeth has people chattering both here and abroad.
The woman was catapulted into the headlines after revealing to the Daily Voice that hospital bosses told her to go home after discovering her teeth had been stolen.
The veteran nurse said she has been left humiliated.
Within hours of her story being published, word spread across the globe and it prompted two South African dentists based in Ireland to offer the cash to pay for a new set of dentures for the Ravensmead nurse.
The 52-year-old woman was sent home last Friday when she reported for duty at N1 City Hospital without her front teeth. She said her boss told her to take time off work until she replaced her dentures.
The woman said she is grateful for the offer from Ireland, but is more concerned about returning to work.
“I don’t know what is going to happen when I return to work,” she said.
“I went for fittings at the private dentist at work and I need the dentures done by Friday, when I’m supposed to return for my next shift.”
Meanwhile, the missing dentures have Cape residents divided.
A restaurant manager who did not want to be identified suggested that the woman take legal action against her employer for treating her unfairly.
While another clothing store manager said she would not allow her staff to work without their front teeth.
Cape Town flower-seller Delia Gamildien – who proudly showed off her passion gap – said the woman should be allowed back at work.
“Why shouldn’t she be at work just because she’s not wearing her dentures?” she asked.
“If a customer does not want to buy flowers from my stall because I have dentures, I will tell them to go to a seller with permanent teeth.”
Meanwhile, her friend Karin Bachmann, 40, said the woman should not be kept from doing her job.
“What is more important, the fact that she has no teeth or that she is caring for her patients?” Karin asked.
“If I was one of the patients, I wouldn’t care if the nurse has teeth or not – as long as I am taken care of.”
Newspaper vendor, Natasha McClure, 49, has had dentures for over 10 years and admits to forgetting her smile at home.
“I left my teeth at home a couple of times,” she said, baring a toothless grin.
“One day I forgot to put in my bottom set and when I got to town, I realised.
“That day, my customers noticed I wasn’t talking as much as I used to and I just kept my mouth covered until I got home. I was very shy.”
Clothing store manager Barbara Abrahams said her boss doesn’t have a problem with her gapped smile.
“I extracted my teeth four years ago and I never got dentures,” she said.
“My boss has never had a problem with this and I don’t mind if my staff come to work without dentures.”
But Cell C store manager Amanda Scholtz said she can’t allow her consultants to work if they don’t look presentable.
“They can’t come to work like that and work with customers. Depending on the circumstances, they either have to work at the back of the store doing something else, or they have to take sick leave until they can sort it out,” she said.
Meanwhile Netcare Regional Director Ian Goble said that the woman had requested to take leave and change her shift around.
“It is important that members of staff within the healthcare environment are able to communicate with patients and others effectively and safely at all times and without compromising the health of anyone,” he said.
“The staff member concerned expressed her embarrassment... for not having her dentures and was therefore afforded the opportunity to change her shift around so that she could have time off to replace her dentures.
“She instead requested to take leave.
“Netcare strives for excellence and professionalism in the delivery of quality patient care. We care passionately about the dignity of our patients and our staff.”
Daily Voice