September 21, 2017 – Nurse Abuse

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Anchor lead: What are the implications of the recent viral story on police handcuffing a nurse? Elizabeth Tracey reports

A policeman handcuffing an emergency department nurse for 20 minutes in late July went viral, and has precipitated a lot of responses. Patricia Davidson, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, describes her reactions.

Davidson: Firstly, the importance of policies, procedures, and contact. The other amazing thing was the courage and tenacity of nurse Wubbels under these extenuating circumstances to maintain advocacy and protection of the patient. Really I’ve never been prouder to be a nurse, to see her actions. And the other thing that is really important, particularly in this increasingly complex times that we are all trained in situations of escalation.   :32

Davidson says she’s advocating for training that’s similar to negotiators for hostage release or those intervening in a threatened suicide as critical for nurses in potentially or frankly hostile situations, noting that such skills are an important part of a nurse’s toolkit. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.