Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession

January 2016

  The nurse acted improperly resisting the police officers’ execution of a valid arrest warrant.  The officers used no more force than was necessary in response to the nurse’s repeated refusals to comply with their lawful commands to stop obstructing them.  The nurse is not able to establish that the officers violated any law.  The officers are entitled to legal immunity from a lawsuit under these circumstances. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT November 13, 2015

  An RN working as a charge nurse in a mental health facility refused to allow local police officers to enter the facility to carry out an arrest warrant for a patient.  The nurse insisted she first had to contact her supervisor for permission.  Over the nurse’s protests that she had a responsibility to protect her patients the officers forced themselves in, struggled physically with the nurse, carried out the arrest warrant for the patient and then arrested the nurse herself for obstruction.  The nurse was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.  Then the nurse sued the police officers for alleged excessive force and alleged violations of her Constitutional rights.