[Gromit]

People get into this field or come to this country for their own reasons. I don't care if you're primary education is that of a veterinarian -if you're working as a nurse, you're a nurse first and foremost. Just as if you're primary education were an RN, but you were working as an electrician -you would be an electrician first.
Nationality should not play a role in this conversation.
And I don't really care why they were here as nurses.

One thing I WILL say, though, is that if my employer suddenly told me that I was going to have to work overtime hours, but not get paid overtime, they would see the tail-lights of my bike -and me on it- as a response. I love being a nurse, but I'm not working 'gratis' for ANYBODY -regardless of the circumstances.

[anthony123]

If the nurses from the next shift were in on this and it left the facility paralized then it would be really wrong. But from what Im reading they all left together and they were on the same shift so they must have had replacements. And to think all of them are filipino's and other nurses who left before them were not brought charges. Somethings up............

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by anthony123

If the nurses from the next shift were in on this and it left the facility paralized then it would be really wrong. But from what Im reading they all left together and they were on the same shift so they must have had replacements.

Actually ... they couldn't have all been working on the same shift. This is why I think the article is either misquoting the DA or is out of context because it doesn't make any sense.

Many posters on this thread have assumed that all ten nurses were working days, finished their shift and resigned that Friday night ....

However, the article also mentions that these nurses were complaining about not getting night differential pay. This was one of the issues in the employment dispute.

People don't complain about night differentials unless they're working nights. If they were all working days then, night differentials would not be an issue.

With 10 nurses resigning and complaining about night differentials at least some of them had to be working nights.

This is also confirmed by the indictment, which says that ALL of the available nurses who were assigned almost exclusively to the respirator kids resigned that Friday night. Since all of the nurses resigned, it makes sense that some of them worked days, and some of them worked nights.

And, the other nurses who were trained on respirators who could replace the nurses assigned to the respirator kids, also resigned. Presumably some of them worked days, and some worked nights.

[banditrn]

Originally Posted by Gromit

Exactly. Thats why I'm saying that they have no real case. They feel the need to sway public opinion with false claims and gross exaggerations -this tells me that they cannot win on the merits of the case alone.
Kind of reminds me of a certain prosecutor who was playing politics with the lives of certain lacrosse players -and playing very loose with the facts of his case...

Absolutely, gromit - what I fear may come out of this is legally mandated notice required for nurses - and management somehow having the right to refuse a workers notice.

Don't know all the facts in this case, but that place must have been a real crap-hole!

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by chris_at_lucas_RN

a) The fact that foreign nurses are happy to come here and work in deplorable conditions for less compensation than American nurses confirms that they are a part of the problem. It will not get better for American nurses if hospitals can find someone else to do the job, and cheaper too.
b) The US government doesn't invite them, they are recruited by for-profit companies who promise them housing, transportation, (relative) big bucks, etc., etc. If they come and find they also get "deplorable working conditions," then gee, I guess they found out the same thing we American nurses did when we determined to vote with our feet (giving notice, of course).

I just found out today that a hospital I used to work for is now hiring 30 Filipino nurses. Why? It's a hellhole. Very few in my graduating class would work for them, and I'd personally rather die than work for them again.

And, once these Filipinos get here ... I suppose they will be shocked, shocked at the conditions and walk out.

But I have to agree that foreign nurses are part of the problem. This will allow the hospital's shoddy practices to continue.

I used to be really pro-foreign nurse but, not so much anymore. From what I've seen, foreign nurses are mostly used to keep wages low and maintain the status quo with lousy working conditions.

[KellNY]

Just humming in here....

No, they should have no problem staffing these positions temporarily with agency nurses, even on a Friday evening's notice. Yes, managment will have to come out of pocket, but it can be done. And I'm assuming it was--because we haven't heard anything about the children's health being negatively affected.

[jayrem]

I am also a foreign nurse and have experienced being taken advantaged by employers because I didn't know any better.It is very frustrating and discriminating BUT I would never think about abandoning my patients.I would make sure that my job is done and none of my patients gets hurt then deal with my own issues.We don't really know what transpired and should not be quick to judge those nurses.Knowing where they are coming from,I can honestly assure you that majority of them did not abandon their patients just like that.I hope they will all be okey.Thank you for this chance to reply.

[Sheri257]

This news report seems to give at least a little more info on what happened that Friday night:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=5137397

Prosecutors say two of the nurses walked off the job last April after the day shift at Avalon Gardens Rehab and Health Center in Smithtown.

The others, according to prosecutors, never came in for the night shift. They reportedly were all under the guidance of an attorney, who was also arrested.

"They essentially all walked in and said, 'We quit, right now' on a Friday night," Lato said. "Even if they had quit on Friday morning, at least it would've given the nursing home some time to find replacements."

__________________________________________________ ___________

On the other hand, I was able to find some practice guidelines from the New York Board of Education that might help the nurses' legal case:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/nurseabandon-qa.htm

Could you please clarify a charge against a nurse for employer abandonment?

Employer abandonment may occur if a nurse fails to give reasonable notice to the employer of her or his intent to terminate the employer-employee relationship or contract, under circumstances which seriously impair the delivery of professional care to patient or clients.

Examples include:
The nurse walks off duty without notice to the employer-when the patient(s) is in need of immediate care and when this would seriously impair the delivery of professional care;
The nurse notifies the supervisor or other responsible party of the intent to leave immediately but does so without transferring her or his responsibilities and reporting to another nurse, when the patient(s) is in need of immediate care and when this would seriously impair the delivery of professional care.

Can you provide examples of situations that may not necessarily be considered employer abandonment?

The Education Department cannot interpret issues limited to employment and contract disputes. However, the following examples of employer abandonment, in which patient care is not seriously impaired, would probably not alone subject the nurse to disciplinary action by the Department:

A licensed nurse completes her/his assigned shift and then notifies the employer that the employment relationship between the nurse and the employer is being ended immediately--other staff are available to provide nursing care;
The nurse fails to return from a scheduled leave of absence;
The employer-employee relationship is ended without providing the employer with a period of time to find a replacement;
The nurse resigns but does not complete the notice period given.
__________________________________________________ _______

So, it may boil down to whether other staff was available and whether they were able to find agency nurses.

[Sheri257]

You may also want to check out the video version of the story:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=5137397

At the end, they do a couple of interviews with Smithtown residents who said:

"I've never heard of anything like that. I've heard of people walking off the job. But it doesn't sound right to me, they would be arrested."

"It's horrible. It's surprizing because people who usually go into that field are usually very caring and loving people so, they must have been really mad to do that."

Based on these comments, the prosecution may not even need to show pictures of kids on respirators to convince a jury to rule in their favor.

It's going to be a really tough sell with the jury, period ... regardless of the legal arguments. It just looks really bad and, I really don't know how you get past that.

[mercyteapot]

Originally Posted by lizz

You may also want to check out the video version of the story:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=5137397

At the end, they do a couple of interviews with Smithtown residents who said:

"I've never heard of anything like that. I've heard of people walking off the job. But it doesn't sound right to me, they would be arrested."

"It's horrible. It's surprizing because people who usually go into that field are usually very caring and loving people so, they must have been really mad to do that."

Based on these comments, the prosecution may not even need to show pictures of kids on respirators to convince a jury to rule in their favor.

It's going to be a really tough sell with the jury, period ... regardless of the legal arguments. It just looks really bad and, I really don't know how you get past that.

Based on 2 comments, it is to be presumed that 12 people aren't going to follow the law and make their decision on facts and not emotions? We don't know how many opinions that reporter solicited before deciding which 2 to air. We don't know from where he even solicited these opinions. The 2nd comment you quoted doesn't even indicate which way that person would vote. All s/he said is that it's surprising. Yes, it is. It's a big jump from surprising to criminal.