Emergency Nurses More Pro-Police?

Published

Specializes in ER.

Since getting into ER nursing a few years back, I've become a vehement supporter of law enforcement. I've had my eyes open to the horrible behavior of the criminal underclass, from meth heads to gangsters.

What these men and women put up with is so far beyond what any of us have to deal with, I don't know how they do it.

In the ER, people come in daily in police custody. It's a real eye opener to a segment of society that most of us would otherwise never meet.

I so respect those who protect and serve us. By and large they are amazing!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm and ER nurse and have mixed feelings about our local police. I think they have a tough job and god knows I wouldn't want it. However, I've had more than my fair share of conflict with them. Usually it involves a drunk patient that they bring to the ER who doesn't want to be there. I've got to the point where I meet them at the ambulance bay and ask the guy if he wants seen & if he says no I tell the cops he's all there's & to enjoy. This situation has gone all the way up to our general counsel & director who (for now & surprisingly) back me. The ER is not a substitute for a drunk tank in the local jail

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

That would cheese me too Spanked. We didn't have those issues when I was in the trenches. I think there is a kind of mutual respect between law enforcement and ER nurses, at least back then. I've been stopped a couple times on the way home from a night shift, pushing the speed a little, both times when the officer found out where I worked he just folded everything up and said, "have a safe day."

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Don't get me wrong to the vast majority of the time I have a great working relationship with the police. I work at a federal facility and we actually have our own commissioned officers on-site. I've worked a zillion cases with them over the years and give them every accommodation. However, the same holds true for them. If some guy is drunk and disorderly that is not an emergent medical condition & that's why god made jail cells. The on-sight police are completely trained in this issue after years of butting heads and they never do that anymore. The local police are a little different and sometimes controversy ensues but hey that's why I make the big $$$. The other issue is when the locals will drop off a guy they say needs 302'd but don't want to do the petition themselves. I cannot 302 a patient based on hearsay and they hate that. Those patients often get streeted immediately also

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PMHNP-BC.
I'm and ER nurse and have mixed feelings about our local police. I think they have a tough job and god knows I wouldn't want it. However, I've had more than my fair share of conflict with them. Usually it involves a drunk patient that they bring to the ER who doesn't want to be there. I've got to the point where I meet them at the ambulance bay and ask the guy if he wants seen & if he says no I tell the cops he's all there's & to enjoy. This situation has gone all the way up to our general counsel & director who (for now & surprisingly) back me. The ER is not a substitute for a drunk tank in the local jail

THANK YOU!!! I posted recently about the local cops using my mental health unit as a substitute for jailing people for offenses up to attempted murder..."well he said he wants to hurt someone"...yesssss but he took an axe to his 60 year old father...There are a lot of great officers but I think they feel less empowered to do their job and therefore have metaphorically thrown their hands up in resignation.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yeah we unfortunately run into the police bring people in for admission to our behavioral health unit based on the assumption that every criminal must have a mental health issue that needs treated. This of course is nonsense and is why the criminal code, courts and jails are there. Anyway its fairly easily rectified if we simply refuse admission when they try to dump them if the patient doesn't want treatment or is not acting in a present manner that would make a 302 appropriate. We used to get 3-4 patients brought in by Pittsburgh finest every night and more on the weekends. We probably get that many in a month now. The local police hate it but I wasn't placed on this earth to make them happy or have our ER used as a holding cell for criminals they just don't want to deal with.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Department.

Before I was a traveler, the local police watched out for us and took care of us and in return we'd let them in the backdoor and help them get through the medical clearance process faster, but they cut off the mutual courtesy so our hospital stopped giving them preferential treatment. They started treating us just like any other citizen and we returned the treatment. Not sure what caused the change, but now they are put in the queue just like any other patient walking through and they get seen when it's their turn.

They've always used the ER as a drunk tank, they are famous for saying "Do you want to go to jail or to the hospital?" , I've always hated that they do that. They need to put in the cell and allowed to sober up, but because the officers don't want to do the paperwork, they dump them on the hospital.

I've noticed it's about 50/50 love/hate at most ER's I work. Personally, they don't get preferential treatment from me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

I'm not an ED nurse, a psych nurse on a crisis unit, but I have never gotten a ticket while in my scrubs.

I respect cops so much more since I became a nurse.

Our jobs are similar.

We are the people in the field that everyone goes to in a crisis. In the community you ask a police officer if something goes wrong and the cop has to handle it whether or not he has been trained to handle THAT particular situation. The nurse does the same thing in the hospital.

Plus, both professions are notorious for having abusive bosses and a bullying problem.

We are very much alike.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Surgical.

I'm not pro or con with police. There are good police officers and bad police officers. I took this post as regarding media coverage and how society feels towards police. My mother is a criminal defense attorney and I have heard far too many stories of police brutality, especially in black people. It's a real thing and just because one hasn't personally experienced it doesn't make it untrue. I do believe police need more training and for the life of me do not understand how black Americans, unarmed and unprovoked, can be murdered by police and American citizens still back these officers. If I were black and male I would honestly be scared s***less anytime I got pulled over.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion