2 replies to this topic

[NawlinsGirl]

Five New Orleans nurses who were fired and reported to the State Board of Nursing for abandoning patients after Hurricane Katrina are filing suit against Touro Infirmary. The nurses claim they were only following the orders of a supervisor.

"It was scary, I mean the whole ordeal was terrifying, to say the least," said Bridget Boogaerts. "I never felt safe."

Boogaerts, one of the nurses filing suit against the New Orleans hospital, said the hospital was without electricity, and food and water supplies were limited. A total of 12 people died in the hospital while she was there, and two days after the storm she and several of her fellow nurses evacuated under a supervisors orders.

"(We asked the supervisor) What about abandonment? What about our liability here?" Boogaerts said. "And she responded with this is a disaster situation, there is no abandonment by leaving. You simply would be saving your own lives. So there is no liability."

Full Story: http://2theadvocate.com/livepages4/905.shtml

[NurseChat]

It's like "Lord of the Flies" when these things happen -- everyone for themselves.

[lapwing]

This must have been the most awful situation for anyone to be in. Following orders in this situation is not really an acceptable. That was one of the defenses given by those running concentration camps during World War 2.

In my opinion it would have served no purpose for the nurses to have died alongside their patients. If it had been a fire instead, you are expected to save those that you are able to without putting yourself at risk.

I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the staff and I only hope that the patients did not suffer. Surely the nurses should be treated with understanding considering the circumstances they were in.