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Hospital Stands By Nurses in Harassment Trial
In a statement provided to HealthLeaders Media in February, the hospital said, "At Northern Westchester Hospital, patient safety is our priority and we completely support the actions of our nursing staff in this case as they were clearly acting out of concern for the safety of a newborn baby."
Readers of my column expressed their dismay over what happened between Mr. Kennedy and the nurses. They noted, however, their gratitude toward Northern Westchester Hospital for supporting the actions of the nurses in the wake of such a high-profile case.
"Congratulations to the nurses for doing their duty. Congratulations to the hospital's administration for standing behind their nurses 100%," one online commenter wrote.
"At the end, I am glad that the hospital is supportive of it's [sic] nurses," wrote another.
The hospital stuck by its nurses, despite the might of the Kennedy name, despite the fact that one of the physician witnesses (who's also a family friend of Kennedy) called the nurses the "only aggressors."
That the hospital publicly showed its unwavering support is an important element of this story. I've written a lot about the importance of nurses feeling supported in their work. Having supported nurses help boost employee morale, reduce medication errors, and even improve a hospital's bottom line.
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Comments are moderated. Please be patient.
Linda (10/30/2012 at 11:26 AM)
I totally agree with the hospital supporting these staffers in this situation. They were clearly following their hospital"s standard for safety. It boggles my mind that anyone would take a newborn infant out the hospital to get some fresh air without checking with the nurse who would check MD orders (although never heard of a MD writing such an order). In addition,never heard of anyone doing such a thing involving an infant. What - he oculdn't wait until the baby was actually dscharged - was a day or two going to make that big of a difference when the infant inhaled "fresh air"? As much pollutants in the environment I think he would have waited to exposed the infant. I feel empathy for the mother & infant if this is any example of his character of being a father. Not here to judge but perhaps he should have thought and asked questions before he acted!
Lance (10/24/2012 at 9:44 AM)
I am VERY happy to see how the administration and attorneys for the hospital are standing by the nurses in this trial. IMO, this is simply another example of a Kennedy family member who, instead of wearing the name of the most famous American family with dignity, is using that name to get whatever he wants, rules be damned.