"You're never more than six feet away from a rat..."

...or so the saying goes. And that's not necessarily just the furry variety. Via Subrosa, this illuminating little tale:

Charge nurse Laura Bowater, 33 - who had four years' unblemished service...was dismissed for gross misconduct from her £25,000-a-year post at London's Central Middlesex Hospital.

Killed someone?

Nope:

...she made a joke while trying to restrain a half- naked patient during a raging fit.

That joke being, as she straddled him, "It's months since I have been in this position..". Pretty harmless, typical 'battlefield' type coping humour?

Anyone sensible would think so. But then as this post at Inspector Gadget's blog proved, we don't seem to want human beings in these roles anymore.

And you never know who might be listening. The only people listening here were her colleagues. One of them, maybe more, took it upon themselves to report her, and one can only hope he or she is now pulling double unpaid overtime as a result.

And the last word on this is the kicker:

But Tory MP Nadine Dorries, a former nurse, has slammed the decision, saying: "This is insane - why has she lost her job?"

Yes. That Nadine Dorries, last seen kicking up an almighty fuss about glamour shots on buses, complaining that they are demeaning to women.

She can't see the connection, can she? She truly is dumber than a sack of hammers. Mr Eugenides has further proof of that.

We should start taking the advice of Leg-Iron, and confronting the Righteous among us before it's too late.

If, that is, it isn't too late already...