'Emotionally exhausted' male nurse died due to bullying, colleagues claim

A male nurse working at the Calvary Hospital in Canberra, New South Wales committed suicide after he went through a year of bullying at work, his colleagues have claimed.

Andrew Earl, who was an emergency department nurse, was found dead at his home in June. He had been a nurse since 2009 and was described as a "gentle, giving person".

A coroner had ruled that though there was not enough evidence to say that he died because he was bullied. His friends, however, said that he was 'worn down' by a psychological campaign against him.

"He experienced psychological bullying. Over time it wore him down until he was mentally and emotionally exhausted," a friend who has not been named told The Sunday Canberra Times.

The friend also claimed that one colleague would constantly criticise and question everything he was doing.

She said: "The colleague made changes to his work so it appeared to the rest of his team that he'd completed his work incompetently. Over nine to 12 months, it wore him down until he ."

"He felt belittled and also ashamed that he couldn't cope with it," she added, according to The Sunday Canberra Times.

According to the friend, Earl wanted to report about the bullying so that no one would face such a situation ever, but he feared being labelled unfit for practice.

The ACT Health Services Commissioner is investigating his death following a formal complaint made to them in September 2017.

"This decision [to investigate] was made on the basis that if substantiated, the issues raised may reveal systemic problems at Calvary Hospital," the document said.