After a nurse was assaulted and wrongfully arrested to refusing to draw a blood sample from an unconscious patient at University of Utah Hospital last week, police officers are now no longer allowed to enter patient care areas or have direct contact with nurses, according to the Washington Post.
The new policy was announced this Monday by the hospital’s interim chief executive, Gordon Crabtree, who said he was “deeply troubled” by the arrest of burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26. Her refusal to allow a Salt Lake City police officer to take a blood sample from an unconscious patient was in full compliance with the law and was captured on the body cam video of the officer, causing her story to go viral.
“This will not happen again,” Crabtree said, who then praised Wubbels for “putting her own safety at risk” to “protect the rights of patients.”
Utah nurse arrested for refusing to give a patient's blood to police https://t.co/AmrsG8YvsI pic.twitter.com/i2wDRZkoJy
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 1, 2017
Going forward, police will have to deal with “house supervisors” if they have a request of hospital staff. The new policy was implemented in August before the video became public.
According to hospital officials, Wubbels was back on the job about a week and a half after the arrest. Wubbels said Monday she needed the time to “give my emotions a rest so that I could come out and be pragmatic and effective in my communication.”
“I stood my ground. I stood for what was right, which was to protect the patient,” Wubbels told CNN. “Any nurse, I think, would have done exactly what I did.”
The officer, Detective Jeff Payne, and another Salt Lake City police officer are currently on administrative leave as a result of the incident.
Featured image via screen grab
