[GilaRN]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/...ed_hit_and_run


This is all over the news, and I hope we could discuss this in detail. This situation is very disturbing. While I am the first to agree that nursing is just a job, I think this goes beyond being a health care provider and should touch us on a basic human level. Most americans would consider themselves "good people," however, when you look at this situation, not a single person attempted to help this man. (Other than being bothered to stop texting their bf/gf/vbf/ect. long enough to speed dial 911.)

Sure, we can argue infection control and safety all day long, but not a single person even came close enough to throw a jacket over this guy. Reminds me of the incident were people stood by and watched a car jacker beat the living tar out of an elderly man who then took off with the elderly man's car while while the man lay unresponsive on the parking lot. This is not directly related to nursing; however, I think it may help us understand where violence against nurses and where patients and families with horrid behavior really comes from. I bet these people would consider themselves "good people" as well. So, what is going on and how can we change things?

Please flame away if I placed this in the wrong area.

[Quidam]

When reading that article it says that 4 people called 911. I really can't fathom that if I were a witness or came upon this man that I would not stop and at least be with him until help arrived if I could do nothing else. It seems that someone would have stopped...someone could have helped in some way...but it also seems that the media blew this up somewhat if in fact a policeman was on the scene within 2 minutes. I think that is what I read in the article.

[Quidam]

This is not directly related to nursing; however, I think it may help us understand where violence against nurses and where patients and families with horrid behavior really comes from. I bet these people would consider themselves "good people" as well. So, what is going on and how can we change things?

How so? I don't understand what you mean by this?

Carrie

[cardiacRN2006]

I saw the video on FoxNews and I was disgusted! People just let that man lay in the road...

Could someone muster up the humanity to simple hold his hand until the ambulance arrived? Is that too much to ask from society?

[handyrn]

I saw the video on the news. Yes, there was an officer who just happened to be driving down that road that was able to stop and help. And yes, it probably only took 2 minutes for him to get there, but watching the video was horrible! People were WALKING PAST THIS MAN LAYING IN THE STREET! Others were just standing on the corner looking at him and others were just driving around him. Those 2 minutes seemed like a long time when you saw how many people just ignored this guy. Poor guy. I hope the person who hit him feels enough guilt and responsibility to turn himself in.

As for what this says about humanity, I don't know. This is probably why I stay living where I do-in po dunk USA. We may be small and a year behind everyone else, but everyone wants to get involved in everything and everyone helps their neighbors.

[Batman24]

I would have gone to him and it really has nothing to do with being a nurse but a caring human being. It's a shame no one went and held his hand, sat with him, rubbed his shoulder, comforted him in any way, etc. It's disheartening.

[multicollinearity]

Yes, I think this is more evidence that our society's moral compass is declining.

It reminds me of something I happened across at my local shopping mall about a year ago. I saw a woman who had fallen at the bottom of an escalator. She couldn't get up, and her leg was at an unnatural angle. Nobody stopped to help her. People, including store employees walked around her, as she laid injured on the floor. I stayed with her until EMS arrived.

I was enraged and terrified that this is the society I will someday be a little old lady in. It's terrifying, IMHO.

[pagandeva2000]

Horrible...simply horrible.

[pagandeva2000]

Originally Posted by multicollinearity

Yes, I think this is more evidence that our society's moral compass is declining.

It reminds me of something I happened across at my local shopping mall about a year ago. I saw a woman who had fallen at the bottom of an escalator. She couldn't get up, and her leg was at an unnatural angle. Nobody stopped to help her. People, including store employees walked around her, as she laid injured on the floor. I stayed with her until EMS arrived.

I was enraged and terrified that this is the society I will someday be a little old lady in. It's terrifying, IMHO.

These are the things I think of as well. I will (hopefully) grow old, I may get sick, or attacked somewhere, and it is scary to think that I live in such a densly populated area, yet, no one may assist me. A crowd can usually overtake one or two people...

[multicollinearity]

I think knowledge of the "bystander effect" should be taught in every high school in the United States. People need to be aware and understand, so they can counteract this natural tendency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese