Utah hospital bars police from interacting with nurses

The Utah hospital where a nurse was arrested for refusing to give a patient’s blood sample to police  announced new policies to keep police away from its nursing staff.

Margaret Pearce, chief of nursing at the University of Utah health system, announced the changes in response to the incident. In a video that went viral last week, an officer is seen forcefully grabbing nurse Alex Wubbels and arresting her as she cries for help.

The mayor and police chief have apologized for the officer’s actions.

Pearce said at a news conference that she was “appalled” by the incident. “I’m expecting to see great changes occur because of this event,” she said.

{mosads}

Pearce said police would no longer interact with nurses and instead would speak with “house supervisors.”

Discussions with law enforcement will also occur outside of areas where patients are being cared for, she said.

“If there’s a discussion of an issue, it needs to occur outside the patient-care environment,” she said.

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski earlier apologized in a statement.

“What I saw is completely unacceptable to the values of my Administration and of the values of the Salt Lake City Police Department,” she said last week. “I extend a personal apology to [Wubbels] for what she has been through for simply doing her job.”