Nurse fired for calling police

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Last year while eating at local restuarant i witnessed an irate customer being removed by police for screaming at the staff. Last month i witness a patient daughter screaming at staff for more than a week , security called almost every day. She was 10 times worse than the restuarant customer. Each day the nurse manager and administration kissed her butt and apologized. She would make a scene , throw things, etc...

Everyday she was given a new nurse. Nurses were calling off like crazy to avoid this unpleaseasble daughter. Finally after multiple problems with this daughter it came to a head. She came into the nursing station and began to throw things. The charge nurse called the police and she had to be removed kicking and screaming. One week later the nurse was fired for not handling it internally!!!

Specializes in ER.

If the police are invited on the property by someone making a complaint, they certainly can arrest. How else would they get the burgular that broke into your house?

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
Too bad she was fired though. That sends a terrible message to the staff. :(

It sends a very clear message to hospital employees, patients, and other visitors:

Our only concern is a warped vision of "customer service" aesthetics, which serves "customer complaints" above & before medical appropriateness, safety, common courtesy and common sense. We do not care about the safety of employees, patients, or other visitors -- not now, not ever.

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Specializes in cardiac.
Last year while eating at local restuarant i witnessed an irate customer being removed by police for screaming at the staff. Last month i witness a patient daughter screaming at staff for more than a week , security called almost every day. She was 10 times worse than the restuarant customer. Each day the nurse manager and administration kissed her butt and apologized. She would make a scene , throw things, etc...

Everyday she was given a new nurse. Nurses were calling off like crazy to avoid this unpleaseasble daughter. Finally after multiple problems with this daughter it came to a head. She came into the nursing station and began to throw things. The charge nurse called the police and she had to be removed kicking and screaming. One week later the nurse was fired for not handling it internally!!!

WOW! That doesn't sound right. Everyone has the right to work in a safe environment. Sounds like this facility has it's priorities mixed up. If someone was continually being verbally abusive to staff and throwing things, they should have been banned from stepping foot on the floor. Just my 2 cents. THe pt's daughter sounds like she may have had anger management problems to begin with. I don't know the whole situation, but, I think that after so many calls to security and the behavior continued, then, police should have been called. It is considered a felon to assault healthcare staff. At least in my state it is. :smokin:
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Specializes in CCU & CTICU.
I have to take issue with our right to call the police to handle an out of control family member. Sorry folks, we cannot just call the police. It is occurring on private property. Private property that has it's own security force. Nor can the police just come on to private property to arrest someone, without either an arrest warrant or TO APPREHEND SOMEONE FLEEING FROM A CHASE. Especially not here in Florida.

2. It was not an emergency.

3. No one was in any danger.

4. He came on state property, went to the unit and demanded entrance onto the unit, which was refused.

Well, the differences in these two scenarios are:

1. It did sound like an emergency to me. If you were kidnapped and called from the kidnappers house stating it was an emergency & all that, I could've sworn the police could come by.

2. The police were called by and allowed onto the unit.

3. It did sound dangerous to me as well, what if she pulled a knife? Her behaviour was obviously escalating, fueled by the lack of action from the fire-ups. Imagine if a patient or family member had been accidently hit? There's a bank-busting lawsuit.

4. Security had been called in previous situations, the higher-ups were aware and unlike this charge nurse, they obviously were doing nothing to protect their patients and staff. If security was called on this person everyday, and they are still allowing her to visit, then they should have arranged for security to have been present for every moment of every one of her visits, at the very least.

In how many threads have I seen here about how nurses would call the police if their safety was ever jeopardized by some fool getting violent with them, be it doctor, family member or co-worker?

Assault and battery are still illegal. Just because I'm at a job with a security force doesn't mean I give up my rights to call the police.

Although, I guess I don't have to worry about that at my current job, Security at my hospital is the police.

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Thank you everyone for saying exactly what I'm thinking!! I agree with the wrongful termination lawsuit by that nurse. I wish her the very best.

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Hold on....police in florida can't respond to assault calls on private property?? I must be reading this wrong. If this was fact then you could murder someone in your house and the police couldn't come in to investigate! An arrest warrant is only issued after a crime has occurred...you can't get an arrest warrant if you haven't investigated the crime. You need to enter the crime scene to do an investigation.

This is incorrect. It is true that police can not just enter private property. What allows them is probable cause. If they 'think' a crime is being committed or someone tells them they CAN enter private property.

They do not need an arrest warrant or ANY warrant if there is probable cause. A phone call establishes probable cause.

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:eek:
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Specializes in Med-Surg, Wound Care.
This is incorrect. It is true that police can not just enter private property. What allows them is probable cause. If they 'think' a crime is being committed or someone tells them they CAN enter private property.

They do not need an arrest warrant or ANY warrant if there is probable cause. A phone call establishes probable cause.

That's exactly what I was saying! The OP of the statement that I was commenting on stated that police cannot enter private property without a warrant...not true! Police can enter anywhere when they are called there.

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That's exactly what I was saying! The OP of the statement that I was commenting on stated that police cannot enter private property without a warrant...not true! Police can enter anywhere when they are called there.

Forgive me, sometimes I read so fast I quote the wrong people! :)

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Wound Care.
Forgive me, sometimes I read so fast I quote the wrong people! :)

No problem at all! :)

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Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
Hold on....police in florida can't respond to assault calls on private property?? I must be reading this wrong. If this was fact then you could murder someone in your house and the police couldn't come in to investigate! An arrest warrant is only issued after a crime has occurred...you can't get an arrest warrant if you haven't investigated the crime. You need to enter the crime scene to do an investigation.

I believe you need to go back and reread just what I posted. Police cannot enter private property without either a warrant or in pursuit of someone. And to clarify this, if I call 911 and request the police come to my home, unless my life is in danger or I am the listed renter or property owner, they must determine if my call is valid. This does not mean they can bust down the front door to gain access, to determine this, unless they have clear justification. Someone yelling at another person is not considered a valid reason for police to enter private property. Hospitals have set policies regarding calling law enforcement into their facilities. In the hospitals I know, a nurse manager is not sufficiently high up to call the police into her facility.

You example is kind of silly. If SOMEONE IS BEING ASSAULTED OR MURDERED, THEN THE POLICE do have probable cause and the right to enter. But if someone calls from a hospital, most 911 dispatchers would determine just who is making the request. Sorry, if it isn't a shift supervisor or higher, then the cops do not have the right to automatically enter the hospital, which is considered private property. If you disagree with your hospital's policy on unruly visitors, then take steps to correct it. And by taking steps, I mean within the hospital. If that fails, then go to the press.

Sorry but I do not feel one tiny bit sorry for the nurse that was fired. She stepped outside of her hospitals rules. If no one was being physically injured, calling the police for someone who is unruly is out of bounds. And if the hospital refuses to back up its staff, they are not the only fish in the sea.

Woody:twocents:

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Specializes in ER, Tele, Cardiac Cath Lab.

wow Woody!! no much sympathy there lol. i guess we will agree to disagree but i was there and the daughter was totally out of control. I have work at other hospitals where unruly visitors were arrested and no one was fired.

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