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I find it unfortunate that the Mount Desert Island Hospital CEO has decided to discipline the obstetric unit nurses who were protesting the closure of their unit, as reported in a May 21 BDN article. According to this article, hospital attorneys sent five nurses letters telling them that they were being given written warnings for their actions that day that included entering the CEO’s office uninvited and bringing one person with them who is not an employee.
Granted, entering the boss’s office without an invitation may seem like a bad idea. But in this case, I believe that if the CEO had taken a breath and instead of engaging lawyers and sending out letters, she might have been able to understand the situation from the nurses’ point of view. These nurses are obviously grieving the loss of their department and the jobs that they are very passionate about. I think this kind of passion for one’s work should be rewarded.
The publicity that has been generated because of the CEO’s decision to discipline these nurses for their spirited and well-meaning protest is not good for MDI Hospital. I think it would be in the hospital’s best interest to retract the disciplinary letters and apologize to the nurses and to the MDI community.
Karen Jo Young
Corea
