Yes; they put patients in danger.
10% (12 votes)
Yes; but only if they don't give proper notice
12% (15 votes)
No; they have (or should have) the right to quit anytime
34% (42 votes)
No; the organization is responsible for seeing to patient welfare in such a case
17% (21 votes)
It depends on the circumstances
28% (35 votes)
Total votes: 125
Ten nurses in Pennsylvania were recently brought up on criminal charges after turning in their resignations on the same day in 2006. The DA says they put patients at risk by leaving all at once, they say the nursing home put patients at risk and caused their leaving by refusing to hire enough staff.
Are the charges acceptable or should they be dropped?
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/02/22/hostin.long.island.cnn
There seems to be no basis for the charges, since none of the patients was harmed, the nurses tried to resolve the dispute by meeting with management, and the possibility of management retaliation if notice was given was a real possibility. However NY State may have specific laws governing the situation that we do not know about.
If one nurse was all that management felt was needed for a shift it seems like they could have handled it themselves. Combine that with the mailorder nature of the nurses (do all of them even speak english?) and I suspect management was the abusive party.
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.
...and the first circumstance to consider would be the contracts signed by the nurses when they were hired. Also, what laws are they being charged with breaking?
percivale
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I'm torn on the matter. Following my views, they should do all they have agreed to do, but they also have the right to walk off over disputes.
The employer failed to comply by the first law, from what I could see. The nurses were therefore released from whatever duty they had towards Avalon.
Avalon was at fault for not providing adequate care to its patients.
Lol, thank you for that. My views are officially on the side of the nurses then.
Each individual has freedom to quit their job, but if they conspired to quit in order to harm patients maybe there is a case. I wonder what the exact charge would be. It would seem hard to justify any individual being forced to work.
Do they have a right to strike with notice?
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.
I think it is completely fair (and right) for anyone to quit working at any time. No one can tell you that you have to work.
On the other hand, they said that they'd take care of the folks and didn't. But I don't think it's a criminal offense; I hate nursing homes (just the IDEA of a nursing home) anyway.
Drop the charges and have the state pay court costs.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
My Creative Writing
I said only if they don't give the proper notice, but that was really because I was at a loss of what I really think about this topic. I see both sides of the argument and am torn. I feel that they shouldn't endanger their patients but they should be allowed to strike/quit whenever they want. I am thoroughly confused about this topic.
If management was being difficult and refusing to assist the nurses by hiring more then they were asking for problems. No one deserves to be overworked on the idea that the work they do requires they can't quit. Charges should be dropped and management should be held responsible for the nurses leaving if they insist upon charging someone.
Think about it...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tomorrowtoday
I said it depends. In this situation, it wouldn't have necessarily caused harm for the nurses to all quit. However, if all the nurses in, say, the ICU, PICU, of NICU all quit, those patients could very well die from negligence, and I think the health workers should take that into consideration.
I'm torn, I guess.
~C
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I don't think they should be brought up on charges for quiting alone. I mean, if I were a patient, waiting in a hospital for something, and I found out that the nurses all quit because of some dispute; I would be understanding. Granted that might be just me.
However, if someone does die, and it can be proven that the person would not have died if all the nurses hadn't quit, then there might be a negligence suit in there somewhere. But charging them with a crime simply for quiting their jobs? No, I don't think that's right.
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"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence
I would say that if you are a member of the health care field, you know that your position entails the health of others, and therefore you are responsible for giving proper notice before quitting, so that a replacement can be found before there is harm done to a patient/patient's health.
Most companies have a clause in their employment contract for 2-weeks (or some other time period) notice. I would say this should be particularly stringent in the health care field - especially with the severe lack of nurses and professionals we have these days.
Oh man are you hitting a nerve with me. I am a nurse, and I do believe that I should have the right to quit my job at anytime. If I am on duty at the time, it will be my responsibility to find a capable and safe person to replace me. I work all the time in conditions that are detrimental to my license. I complain constantly to the management and it falls upon deaf ears. It's a national problem and it's about time a group of nurses stood up together.
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Respectfully,
Adam
I tend to agree with you. I worked as a CNA until the end of 2007 and it's not all peaches and cream, pay and hours completely aside. At the nursing home we were routinely under staffed and not given the equipment necessary to do our jobs. We literally had weeks where the nurses or we would go out and buy gloves for us because the organization wasn't providing them. We complained and complained and complained and it wasn't until we called in the State Board that our complaints were finally taken somewhat seriously. The gloves started appearing, but then the pericare items weren't there. It was a never ending battle. When one of the CNA's finally had enough of it and walked out, they threatened to press charges for neglect. While we have a responsibility to our patients, the organization shares that responsibility and if the problems are a result of the incompetence and unwillingness of the organization to meet the needs of employees and thus of patients, and someone (or a group of someones) leave because of it, instead of pressing charges, it would make a heck of a lot more sense to get to the bottom of the issue and start solving it. Instead of placing blame, looking for solutions organization wide would go a lot further in ensuring that the patients are cared for.
It's interesting to me that people can call in and the organization won't bother finding someone to fill in, but when someone walks out, they suddenly start screaming neglect. How is it any less neglect to understaff?!
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~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
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It is written in most organized labor contracts for health care workers that employees may not strike without proper notice. In that is the greatest catch-22. I know several members of the health field and the conditions and expectations are horrendous.
Isn't interesting, public officials interfering in private matters. Being the new model of economy as a free market one of no restrictions. Even large companies need governments intervention from time to time. Just remembert all conservatives when government is trying to regulate abusive corporate greed.
I believe they had a just right to protest conditions as a last resort.
This was brought up in our Nursing Ethics class a couple years ago... Whether or not it was ethical for nurses to go on strike. Nursing isn't exactly a profession you go into expecting decent hours and amazing pay (ok, a lot of places pay quite well), but there has to be a point of time where you draw the line, and there are reasons other than overtime and paychecks that would make nurses quit en mass.
If I remember correctly, the popular opinion of the day was it's unethical to strike without enough notice to find replacement care, because it's neglecting your patient(s). But, if enough notice is provided, and the administration does nothing to prepare, knowing they won't be able to provide sufficient care to their clients, the administration is at fault.
I wouldn't quit over something like mandatory overtime or because I didn't like my salary. I would quit, and encourage others to join me (with notice) if I was, perhaps, working at an endoscopy center in Henderson, NV and knew the facility was using unsafe practices to save money. I would, first, not perform an unsafe practice and document why, and then I would go up the chain of authority voicing concerns trying to change the protocol, and if nothing was done, or I felt threatened in any way for trying to change something, I'd quit and give my reasons and then report the facility.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-
Given that most hospitals, health units, nursing homes, etc. hire under the amount needed to properly care for patients in most circumstances I believe that is the responsibility of the contracted organization for the patients care. The charge people and arm, leg, and right eye most times that they should have the financial capibility to have a back up. This orgs are more beaucratic then health care. So they are responsible.
Healthcare workers are overworked and underappreciated. It is not fair to expect them to wear themselves ragged and then prosecute them when they have had enough of dealing with all of the politics in healthcare. The sad truth is that healthcare in the US is all about money. How many patients are refused proper health care because they do not have insurance?
I guess it's all about the big picture. Nurses are completely overworked. The organization did not want to hire enough staff, then they should expect that their current staff would get burned out.
The doctors, nurses, techs, and everyone else involved in delivering care deserve to be paid for their time as well. Why should they live meager lives for being so overworked and so responsible for not only their actions, but the actions of everyone they work with as well. Health care may be 'all about money', but how many people are you going to find that have to go to school for many years and go way into debt only to make nothing when they come out the other side?
~C
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I would like to think that in a free country, where you get to decide where to apply and work, you should be able to leave a job (any job, regardless,) whenever you so desire..
'
I'm guessing if a whole bunch of health care professionals walk out on the same day, the place has bigger issues and probably patients where already at risk because of those bigger issues; if not, why would so many people be dissatisfied enough with a place to leave all on the same day. Hopefully, if people are really going to be in danger, whoever is in charge would find safe places to transfer those people, at least temporarily, until new staff can be procured. Probably, if the siduation is as bad as it sounds, the residents of this particular nursing home are already in danger and the nursing home should be investigated, if not shut down. So these people will probably need a different place to stay anyway, so I wouldn't blame the nurses for leaving...
Love ya,
Carrot