random responses....one, I wonder if that nurse hospital had policies about this? like, ordering the nurse to dial 999 if faced with a perceived emergency (such as a reported chest pain)? Oh yes, it could be. In our local cottage hospital, a young woman turned up about to give birth, with no hope of getting to the nearest maternity unit in time. There were several qualified midwives on duty, but as they were employed as nurses, not currently on the midwives' Register, they daren't act as midwives and had to haul in a paramedic to do the honours. Second, make allowances for temperament. There are just those who can't cope with the acute, doctors as well as nurses. Sensibly, they normally gravitate to areas of medicine, such as dermatology or occupational health, where they need never see a cardiac or respiratory emergency from one year to the next. I suspect your clinic nurses might fall into this category. It takes all sorts - I cannot imagine working in a geriatric hospital, for instance, but some people thrive on it, fortunately.