July 31 2017, guy fleeing police crosses median and slams into truck and dies. The truck catches fire severely burning the innocent driver, Mr. Gray, who was taken to SLC University. Police later showed up demanding to the UNCONSCIOUS innocent patient's blood. RN Alex shows them the policy requiring consent, arrest, or a warrant. Hospital administration back up RN Alex.
Police aggressively arrest RN Alex and removes her from the hospital. Officer body cam insanity released today:
In this video, the aggressive officer can be heard saying that he will ensure all the "transients" are brought to this hospitals ED since they won't cooperate after being told the administrators and privacy officer are on their way.
Original Crash (graphic):
Interesting note about Alex, she was a 2x Olympian, US Ski Team member, and national champion is Slalom and GS.
I know its a bad idea to resist arrest but this situation is so outrageous and you can see/hear/feel this poor nurse's fear and even terror. I was feeling it just watching this video. I don't blame her for screaming and resisting. I would have done the same thing and I'm still upset for her. I feel her resisting arrest was justified because the arrest was so unjustified!
A few thoughts that have taken all day for me to wrap my brain around. First, it comes out that Payne is an EMT who works for Gold Cross Ambulance. He can be heard saying, "he'd "bring them all the transients and bring good patients elsewhereâ€. In a separate article other than the original posted (U of U nurse says she was assaulted by a Salt Lake City police officer | KUTV), 'I wonder how this is going to affect my Gold Cross job.'†If this is the case he should be fully aware of the patient's right to concent and that the nurse was abiding within the hospital policy, protecting the patient from a serious HIPPA violation and what in a broad sense of the word could be considered assault against him, and she is keeping her nursing license secure. Had she given the officer the blood sample, she feasibly could have had her license suspended or revoked depending on her state BON. Second, this man should NEVER, EVER, EVER be allowed anywhere NEAR any sort of patient in any capacity, as he has a complete disregard for them. He assaulted her and just like O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of criminal charges, he was convicted in civil court and ordered to pay HEAVILY.
The same article I posted above also quotes Wubbels saying, "she's very upset that none of the U of U officers came to her rescue and just stood by and watched it happen." That's what we expect when there is an officer present, some protection, and they failed her. If they didn't want to physically intervene, call the Salt Lake City Police Department and have them send a supervisor down to sort it out. Lastly, I hope I'm wrong but I don't know that I am, I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this is just now coming to light nearly a month and a half later is the police department is not doing anything of substance to discipline this officer and this nurse is setting a precendent to make sure that nurses and hospital employees are protected when acting within the scope and ethics of their licenses, for that I appreciate her and commend her resolve for taking a stand in the face of the public who aren't always so kind.
Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
In the trauma centers where I have worked, a blood alcohol was part of the initial blood work done on arrival in the ED for trauma patients. This may not be routine for every facility. But to clarify for someone who asked if a blood alcohol was routine for all ED patients, no, it's not. it is not the same as a legal blood draw that the police bring a patient in for when he/she is under arrest. That blood draw has a specific procedure re: paper work, chain of evidence, criteria about when the blood was drawn, the skin prep, etc. I think the RN in the video acted appropriately, professionally and correctly. For several reasons, it looked like a power struggle, and the cop "lost it". Kind of shocking actually. I am inspired that she advocated so strongly for her patient's rights. I hope she gets support from her administration and apologies from the Police Dept. She certainly has received support here. I'll be interested in follow up in the news about this.
I worked ER four years. The best thing that should have done would have been for anyone to pick up that phone and call for a third party police dept to step in and deescalate, and guarantee safety/ rights of everyone involved. Do I "blame" the other cops (probably even just cadets) or security for not calling another police dept when the cop was escalating the situation and being very suspicious (wanting a blood draw of the pt who was not the suspect in the accident but the victim, and his depts link to the cause of the accident)? No. I don't think they made the best decision but it was an unusual and abrupt situation, and they did try to deescalate to some degree. However, if I was the victim, I imagine I would be upset that someone didn't think at least to call for help. Should anyone be punished? No, I don't think they deserve that but they need to have procedure in place when conflicts with police arise, which does happen at times, something I've experienced a few times. I wouldn't take action but she might and I couldn't really argue with her either.
And remember the reason the nurse appeared "resisting" is because the cop made a grab for the blood when he lunged at her. At that point he was comitting a crime regardless of the "arrest" label he gave to the situation
If any of you making these insensitive comments about this woman and plan on being a nurse or are a nurse, you should be greatly ashamed. We're the one profession that absolutely mandates sensitivity, empathy, and respect for our patients and each other
What if this victim nurse is a member of this forum and reads this post? How do you think she would feel when people say insensitive things? This is like the first thing they teach you not to do in nursing school and some of you still have trouble with this.
Choose your words wisely especially since the victim may be a member of this forum.
"drama queens". I can't believe someone actually said that... Please choose a different career nursing is not for you. That may go for "you have poor critical thinking" woman too (what an ironic statement) but I think she just wanted to butt in and say something for a power trip after loosely skimming over everything.
That someone was me. I can't chose a different career. I have been doing this for 35 years. The nurse in the video made an error in judgment, she is also a big wimp. There is no place for wimps or errors in judgment for nurses.
Actually what she did was exactly right and your probably a terrible nurse and it's a shame you have a license. I really don't give a **** about how long been a nurse since you've been a terrible one for that duration. First you don't realize that what she did was absolutely right, you are misinformating other nurses, and I can prove that academically and legally. Second you are terrible for calling any victim especially a fellow nurse and possible member of this forum a drama queen. I wouldn't let you touch my family members with that attitude. Maybe your burnt out and need a cubicle job or something and yes you could find one if you tried.
That someone was me. I can't chose a different career. I have been doing this for 35 years. The nurse in the video made an error in judgment, she is also a big wimp. There is no place for wimps or errors in judgment for nurses.
Are you maybe referring to a totally different story? The nurse in this situation appropriately advocated for their patient, declined to allow a federal crime to be committed against the nurse's unresponsive patient, and followed the basic core principles of nursing, I'm not sure how you see that as an "error in judgement"?
That someone was me. I can't chose a different career. I have been doing this for 35 years. The nurse in the video made an error in judgment, she is also a big wimp. There is no place for wimps or errors in judgment for nurses.
Explain to me again what "error in judgment" the nurse made? She followed her hospital policy and protected her client's rights and physical person while he was unconscious and vulnerable. What is it that you think she should have done differently, and how was she a "big wimp," exactly??
Vonique
44 Posts
I know its a bad idea to resist arrest but this situation is so outrageous and you can see/hear/feel this poor nurse's fear and even terror. I was feeling it just watching this video. I don't blame her for screaming and resisting. I would have done the same thing and I'm still upset for her. I feel her resisting arrest was justified because the arrest was so unjustified!