Police Barred from Contact with Utah Hospital Nurses after Appalling Arrest

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

The University of Utah Hospital, where a nurse was manhandled and arrested by police as she protected the legal rights of a patient, has imposed new restrictions on law enforcement, including barring officers from patient-care areas and from direct contact with nurses.

The arrest and manhandling last month of Nurse Wubbels as she was trying to advocate for her patient caused a loud uproar from nurses and the general public. Now the police have been barred from patient-care areas in the Utah hospital where nurse Wubbels was the charge nurse on the day of her arrest. The police will now have to "deal directly with house supervisors when they have a request."

On Friday, the police department said two of its employees had been placed on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation, but did not give details. A criminal investigation is underway, according to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill

For more on this story go to Utah hospital bars police from contact with nurses after 'appalling' arrest.

[MunoRN, RN]

I think there's some confusion about the steps the hospital has taken. The hospital hasn't banned all LEO's from the hospital, they now require LEOs to direct their requests to the house supervisor or an administrator rather than to direct care nurses, which is how it works at most of the facilities I've worked at.

There are some reports that suggest Officer Payne has received a lifetime trespass from the hospital, but that is pretty standard for anyone who physically attacks a staff member when in their 'right mind'.

Some of the reports also suggest that their have been additional, temporary measures placed on the SLC PD which is appropriate since the cause of the incident came from many levels of the department, not just one bad apple. This would be more problematic if the SLC PD was who the hospital relied on for law enforcement needs, but it's not, it's the U of U PD that has jurisdiction over the hospital.

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

I'm not sure what role house supervisors play at other facilities, but in my role I have a constantly ringing phone, the responsibility to evaluate admissions and assign them to inpatient beds, as well as do the staffing for all of the inpatient units and ER. I also work in an area that tends to have a lot of patients brought into the ER accompanied by police, as well as for police blood draws. If I was responsible for handling every single police interaction for the ER, none of my other responsibilities would be taken care of. I was a charge nurse in the ER prior to this role and we always had great working relationships with the officers that came in. I would hate to see that relationship damaged because of a knee-jerk reaction, assuming that all officers would behave as this one did.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'm not sure what role house supervisors play at other facilities, but in my role I have a constantly ringing phone, the responsibility to evaluate admissions and assign them to inpatient beds, as well as do the staffing for all of the inpatient units and ER. I also work in an area that tends to have a lot of patients brought into the ER accompanied by police, as well as for police blood draws. If I was responsible for handling every single police interaction for the ER, none of my other responsibilities would be taken care of. I was a charge nurse in the ER prior to this role and we always had great working relationships with the officers that came in. I would hate to see that relationship damaged because of a knee-jerk reaction, assuming that all officers would behave as this one did.

In my facility, we have one nursing supervisor whose sole responsibility is beds and assigning patients. Then there's a second nursing supervisor who would handle all other issues.

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

In my facility, we have one nursing supervisor whose sole responsibility is beds and assigning patients. Then there's a second nursing supervisor who would handle all other issues.

I would love that option, lol! Unfortunately, we are a small community hospital with a budget crisis, so I doubt they will be doubling us up any time soon.