Calling Nurse A 'Hero,' Utah Hospital Bars Police From Patient-Care Areas

[Julian Englis]

Source: NPR

The Salt Lake City hospital where a police officer roughly arrested a nurse who was protecting her patient's rights in July will no longer allow law enforcement agents inside its patient care areas. They'll now have to check in, rather than enter through the emergency room.

"Law enforcement who come to the hospital for any reason involving patients will be required to check in to the front desk of the hospital," said chief nursing officer Margaret Pearce of the University of Utah Hospital. "There, a hospital house supervisor will meet the officers to work through each request."

Hospital officials say they created the policy one day after the July incident in which nurse Alex Wubbels refused to allow a police investigator identified as Jeff Payne to get a blood sample from a patient who was injured in a deadly collision with another driver. Wubbels was following the hospital's policy (and a recent Supreme Court decision) that requires either a warrant, the patient's consent, or the patient being under arrest for such a sample to be obtained legally.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment bars blood tests from being obtained without a warrant in drunken-driving cases.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/05/548601099/calling-nurse-a-hero-utah-hospital-bars-police-from-patient-care-areas?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170905

[Tribalceltic]

1. Kick and Recomend and Thank you!

[niyad]

2. patient who was injured in a deadly collision with another driver. --do not forget, the man who

was injured was injured as a result of a high-speed police chase, in which he was an innocent bystander. the way the sentence reads, he was involved, and he wasn't. that needs to be made clear in every single relating of this story.

[christx30]

5. Yep. The cops were trying to duck responsibility

by trying to find something, anything to say the driver was partially at fault.
Thank goodness for that nurse. And for her, thank goodness for video cameras, and the internet. 20 years ago, her life and career would be ruined for standing up and doing the right thing. Now we just need to prosecute this cop, and the other ones for standing around and not doing anything to stop this tragedy.

[niyad]

6. and that bastard is still drawing a salary. makes me sick.

[christx30]

15. I'm ok with that part.

if he's found innocent (not sure why he would be, but it's always a possibility), he doesn't get to sue the city for his back pay and damages, which would cost even more money. It's kind of like 'go away money'.
Personally, I think any damages the nurse gets should come out of the police retirement fund. That way, good cops that work hard to serve their communities will have skin in the game, and won't let POS like this bad cop get away with everything. The bystanders will get in there and stop bad behavior.

[niyad]

21. you make a very interesting suggestion there. my problem with him getting his salary is that

we have seen far too many officers found "innocent" of heinous behaviour.

[Ligyron]

3. Way too many cops are like this Payne guy.

Don't you dare challenge my authority even if the law and everything else says otherwise.

I hope he loses his job in law enforcement. There are already enough bad apples in that bunch.

[No Vested Interest]

7. When I hear or read of someone so belligerant and hostile in their work environment,

I wonder what they're like in the home and as a neighbor.
Likely as bad or worse.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. Indeed. n/t

[niyad]

22. I would almost lay money on him being an abuser at home.

[IronLionZion]

4. I've heard nurses say aggressive cops are quite common

usually the circumstances are that they want evidence against a suspect, not an innocent bystander. This one happened to be caught on video and made public

Record the police! (yes, they've been shooting people who record them) but they still need to be recorded.

[Old Vet]

12. Iam of the opinion cops do this often BUT this time.............

It was on videotape, The person arrested was female and white. Had this been on a highway somewhere the driver would of been black and the cop would bring out there famous sentence "I smell pot" which gives the cops the go ahead to do just about anything they want. And nobody would of heard a peep about a citizen being violated again, IMHO

[left-of-center2012]

8. "Other hospitals will likely want to adopt similar policies to prevent police overreach"

The Salt Lake City Police Department says it suspended Payne from its "blood draw program"

(We slapped him on the wrist and called him a naughty boy)

[left-of-center2012]

9. In my experience ...

In hospitals where I have worked, cops roam the halls 24/7 to flirt with the nurses.

[Gothmog]

10. This is an appropriate move

[Paladin]

11. I won't be happy until "Officer" Jeff Payne is in jail, with no more law enforcement career. (nt)

[Egnever]

14. Agreed

[The Wizard]

19. Stripped of his pension

He committed a crime under the color of law.

[Mr.Bill]

13. If it were not for body cams

that RN would have been charged with resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. And every cop who was there would swear to it.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. I think it would be highly interesting to file for discovery or FOIA on the other officer's reports

from that incident and compare to the video.

[Mr.Bill]

18. If she sues, I'm sure that will happen.

But they will put up a legal fight about it, unless they just decide to fire him and throw him under the bus, as they should.

[niyad]

23. and I wonder how many complaints from citizens are in payne's file.

[raven mad]

20. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME...............

Go, University of Utah Hospital!!!!!