Tennessee nurses push for new law to add protection from sex offenders
Nurses in Nashville are hoping to put a new bill on the books that would add another layer of protection against registered sex offenders.
The hope is to have legislators take up a bill that would require sex offenders to present their offender identification card once inside the hospital.
“You would go register at the front desk, like any other patient, the only difference is that you would hand them your sexual offender identification card, and let them know,” explained Carissa Kohne, co-writer of the bill.
“It would allow us to plan how we would do patient care, not that it would change the care itself any…” explained Ciearria. [FAC COMMENT: Yeah right!]
So altering the way you “plan to do patient care” is somehow not changing patient care? Interesting.
Sounds like 1984 doublespeak
Seems like a hospital in Tennessee is looking for organ donors…
The claim that their identification as a registered sex offender wouldn’t affect their care is bull! A couple of years ago at a medical checkup, I discussed the possibility of resuming the treatment for low testosterone levels that my former doctor had identified, which eliminated my chronic pain and restored my normal energy levels. The FEMALE Nurse Practitioner then pretended to be listening to my heart and lungs, but used it as an opportunity to whisper in my ear, “I won’t prescribe hormones for sex offenders.” That, at least, explained some of the negative vibes I had been getting from some of the other health care “professionals.” They stop looking at you as a patient who came to them for help.
The report doesn’t specify what the penalties are for attempting to obtain care without identifying oneself as a sex offender. Anyone see the bill?
Have their been any other assaults on providers by registrants? Any at all?
How many have been perpetrated by non registrants?
A committee member needs to ask these questions, and a TN legislative activist needs to feed these questions to them.
Given 6th Circuit precedent, I would like to think that this provision was a susceptible to court challenge. But that could take years.
Any Tennesseans here able to express their concerns to their representatives?
Notice also that the people to benefit most so far from 6th Cir ruling have been in TN not MI
TN is actually more punitive than FL towards former offenders. Isn’t this one of the states that mandates family separation?
I dumb and lame is that, of course it will change the way the person (s) is taken care of, who the heck are they trying to kid. Plus Tennessee is part of the 6th circuit so like here in Michigan wouldn’t that be unconstitutional because of the 6th circuits ruling, not that their ruling has done Michigan any good so far. Our ACLU had to file a 4th lawsuit.
I was already a victim of that here in Florida at a well known hospital chain. Somehow they had a notation in my chart that I was on the sex offender registry. One particular nurse tried to do something to me I cannot type on here without getting the post taken down.
I reported her after “Fighting back” on her attack on me physically due to her gross and inhumane “incident” that if I had not stopped, I would most likely died.
NOTHING was done to her other that a new nurse being assigned to me. I reported her to the hospital, the state, the county, a lawyer, and even the lawyer said since she “Denied” all of it, nothing could be done. I even offered for both of us to take a polygraph and the lawyer later said she refused. I didn’t take one after that since the lawyer said I would have to pay (Which was fine with me) but would not hold up in court unless she took one and failed it.
AND, unbelievable she was a supervisor. One of the nurses I told about it said that supervisor was only made a supervisor after filing complaints against HER supervisors.
After that, I told my parents, I would rather die that be admitted to a hospital again. Imagine all the things that could be done to us if someone read that in our charts? Taint our food, give us “Too” much meds in our IV’s for a sleep that lasts forever. And all of it will be covered up, denied, marked as an accident etc.
Every law or rule that passes like this makes it more and more impossible to get back into society.
What is a Sex Offender Identification Card? These people have NO idea what they are talking about and if you try to educate them, they dont want to listen. Maybe if they tell the lies long enough and loud enough and to enough individuals, there will be some truth that develops? Ugh.. Just Ugh.
Email to news@wkrn.com: (today 8/7/22)
Hello:
Your reporter Mye Owens recently reported that the Tennessee legislature was considering a proposal to require registered sex offenders to declare their status at the front desk during a patient intake at a hospital. Your reporter presented inuendo and opinion rather than fact. Please help your staff to become aquainted with actual facts about sexual offending. This will help in the fight to stop sexual harm through evidence-based policy. This story only served to add to the public hysteria with misinformation that can only hinder this cause! It was irresponsible.
Perhaps your station is unaware of the true statistics on sex offending in America.
It is estimated that between 90 and 95 percent of sex offenses in the US each year are perpetrated by persons who have no background or history of sexual offending; hence, they have never been on a sex offender registry. Screening for registrants will do little or nothing about the problem of workplace sexual harrassment by inpatients.
In fact, according to recent studies by the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, those who have committed a sex offense have the lowest recidivism rates of any other type of crime except for murder. The recidivism rate for sexual offending is in the low single digits!
Unfortunately, requiring a patient to disclose his or her registrant status would do very little to stop sexual harrassment in hospitals (or anywhere, for that matter) and, perhaps, subject that patient to a lower quality of care. A very tiny percentage of sex offenders reoffend. Most sex crime in the US is committed by non-registrants.
As journalists, shouldn’t you dig for the facts rather than present misinformation? Your voice should be one of calm and reason!
Thank you
Above is a great letter to WKRN!
I am on a do not donate plasma list because of this discrimination. Also, a female who screened me for a mental health program program back in 2005 made a false claim against me that was later used against me.
I have taken calls from others who were denied services because of registry status.
So no, I don’t trust this proposal one damned bit.
Nurses have faced far more abuse from patients that are not on the list. Give me a break. Seriously, it is like the world has lost critical thinking skills.
It’s good to know that they will not have to fear murderers, armed home invaders, armed robbers, drug dealers, etc. And those evil ‘sex offenders’ will now be identified. This is another example of the stupidity that permeates our society. Rather than have the registered citizens identify themselves, why not have them ware a ‘yellow star’…it worked for some guy named Hitler.
Carissa Kohne is a law clerk at ForTheMilitary.com, a legal group that purports to help veterans sue hospitals for discrimination.
Ciearria Cookson works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Ciearria’s stupid proposal becomes law and the legal team at ForTheMilitary takes up the case to sue for discrimination?
(I must also note the case Ciearria pointed to in her media report was also dismissed/nolle prosequi). It was easy to find once I found the original story.
Interesting. You provided more info than the reporter.
I’m willing to bet, that the majority of the patients who caused them concerns, wasn’t even on the registry!
One more fun fact: TN uses the numbers 88 to mark state IDs of RCs. If you aren’t aware of this, 88 is code for Heil Hitler. Hitler marked Jewish passports. I don’t believe in coincidences.
Interesting fact; Tennesse doesn’t have a SOF ID card. I’ve been out of prison since 2013 (under unsupervised release) and have never been given or told that I need to obtain such a card. Now just maybe Nashville is different and requires such a card, but I don’t live in the Nashville area. If someone knows something I don’t please let me know…thanks
Richard, you are not on lifetime parole/probation/supervision in Tennessee.. if you were, you’d have a separate card listing you as a sex offender to go along with that “88” you carry in the “RESTRICTIONS” area on the back of your driver’s license.
Offender ID card? If I don’t have My papers will I be sent to Stalag 13? Seriously does Tennessee already have an ID card system?
no
Hey Cherokee… in Tennessee, we don’t carry a separate card unless you are on lifetime probation/parole/supervision… and we don’t have “SEX OFFENDER” in red letters on our driver’s license/state ID…
HOWEVER… we DO carry an “88” in the special conditions sections to notify law enforcement that we are registering ex-sex offenders.. the “88” is not listed in the description section as to what means, like Class “A” or CDL.. BUT, I’m sure, eventually, the general public will find out what the “88” means.
What is it going to take to educate the gullible in this country.
I was listening to a radio talk show last week. The subject was about a couple who had quadruplets 5 years old plus another child they were seen in a mall with the children in harnesses and leashes. It was questioned whether this was acceptable.
One older woman said not in her younger days ,no but today with weirdos waiting around every corner ready to grab your kids it’s understandable.
After her remarks the radio DJ said actually statistics show that kids have never been safer in this country than they are now. That that idea trumped up by a few front line news reports have over exaggerated the situation. The idea that someone is waiting to grab your kids is false. Sure a parent needs to be alert and teach kids to be aware of things around them. But no need to be scared of the boogie man hiding in the bushes.
I was actually surprised that someone actually got it right.
Jesus Christ, everybody wants to add restrictions on us.WTF.
She’s out of her mind or in denlel if she believes it wouldn’t change the level of care
So when the roe v Wade verdict came out some people warned against his it could change privacy rights. Of course you didn’t hear about it after the first day or two. Now, to be clear we don’t have privacy rights as it is. In my mind, it either get worse for us, or the general public starts getting treated more like registered people, then things might change for us.
I won’t go to any hospital that makes me identify myself as an offender. I can just get tested bad like everyone else at the VA.
I think this is wrong. I personally first hand have seen the mistreatment of a sex offender. The emergency room nurses and dress refused to give adequate care to a sex offender having a stroke. They just let him lay there and his own body work through it. I was a CNA for years and I know all the signs of a stroke my family member was having one and they did nothing to help him because his photo ID said sex offender on it
Yeah I feel the same way FAC. This gives even more reason to deny services. I would love the opportunity to sit down with every nurse and ask them why they need protection in a public place. I know we’ve already seen denial for SO’S to enter hospitals to see family, correct me if i’m wrong. This is just another niche to incorporate control.
Also I forgot to add, I am glad we here in Florida do not have to have an “Offender identification card”. Geez how far is this BS going to go towards us? Why do you need a separate ID card stating you are a sex offender?
But as it were, one horrible idea gets created in a state and another follows suit.
No need for a separate card when FloriDUH already places marks of infamy on the front of your state IDs.
At least Tennastee places their marks on the back of the card in a less conspicuous manner.
Derek
Mine only states the statue # and I got pulled over once by a Brevard county Deputy for going 5 over speed limit on A1A. He asked me point blank why there were #’s on my Drivers license. I said I have no idea (Just to see if he was messing with me.
When he returned to speak with me again he was angry and said “Why didn’t you tell me you are a sex offender? Now I know why you didn’t want to tell me what those numbers meant.” I told him “Sir, in all honesty, being a sex offender means you are actively offending.” I further stated my charges are from 32 years ago and an isolated incident.
I also stated I respect law enforcement and use to be in law enforcement myself. I advised him I pray for law enforcement often and have no animosity towards the brave men and women who serve on a daily basis. When he returned to the car, he threw my license into the window, yelled “Slow the *uck down” and did not give me a ticket.
I was amazed he had no clue what those statue #’s meant. If a sworn officer didn’t know (Until he pulled up my driver info) then showing it at hotels etc. are not going to know. Still do not like it on there and I know some unfortunate souls have “Predator” on their license. I know that does not make it easy to do day to day business without being shunned.
I live in TN, I dont have any such ” card ” there is an indication on my DL under restrickions
When he said “card” he was referring to the state issued ID/drivers license.
Passing this law will do nothing to reduce gross sexual comments, threats, patients trapping a nurse in a room, or perverts wanting a sponge bath, as pointed out by Nurse Ciearria.
There has been no study.
There is no actual data.
But sadly it will pass anyway.
Purpose of the bill is to prevent a crime that already happened.
WKRN’s headline writer dutifully reports that the bill would ‘add protection.’
A better-quality news outlet would be less likely to take a scoop at face value and might consider asking some questions.
I’ll never forget Cherokeejack’s account of being abused by a vindictive nurse. ‘Good thing that almost never happens,’ I thought to myself at the time.
Jacob
Yeah I rehashed it yesterday and is posted on this story. All I can say was I had a catheter in my male parts and when she went to pull it out, she whispered something in my ear I cannot repeat and then started yanking at the tube violently. I screamed for help and grabbed her arm and whispered something back to her I cannot repeat. She ran out of the room and young male orderly came to check on me and rushed me to surgery, otherwise I might have bled to death.
My official complaint was most likely sent to file 13 (The trash can)
The attorney I tried to hire stated it was my word against hers and since the hospital (At my expense) performed corrective surgery, there was no long term damages done. (Only because I grabbed her arm in a death grip and stopped her).
Protection? I wonder how many incidents are perpetrated by PFRs vs non-registrants or how many of these are considered “sexual.”
Of course it’s going to alter care. More than likely, more will be denied care or everything extra scrutinized as “sexual.” Should people also present their AARP, NRA, or airline rewards cards, too?
Isn’t medical care and basic right? If not then something is very wrong with the system.
Since 1986, federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency medical care. Other than that, health care access involves a patchwork of state and local laws.
Meanwhile in Texas,
Former Texas teacher gets Just 60 days in jail for sexual relations with underage student
https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-texas-teacher-60-days-jail-sexual-relations-underage-student
Just sayin
I do not mean to diminish anything but female sex offenders are often not treated as badly as males. (My opinion) Every teenage boy wanted to get with an older woman, their teacher, their best friends mom or older sister, or even their baby sitter. But when men are listed as a sex offender the public thinks of creepy old guys hiding behind trees waiting to kidnap small children and drag them into the woods.
Apparently, the judge agrees with me.
Cherokee, I agree with you. That’s why there are songs and music videos such as Hot For Teacher by Van Halen (showing my age) that glorify young males having such encounters with older female teachers. Things that weren’t considered crimes in the 1980s will now get men put in prison for life but women get slaps on the wrists most of the time. There is no such thing as equal justice under the law.
It’s obvious from the news article that this teacher is a young and pretty woman. I’ve noted over the years that prettier women are treated more leniently than others. Although judges here in Michigan are now trying harder to treat all men and women equally as harshly because of public outrage. Years ago, a male teacher was discovered by police naked in the back seat of his car, with a 15 year old girl who was also naked, and another 15 year old girl in the front seat. No charges were filed. He was allowed to resign and take a new teaching job in Texas.
His father was the school superintendent, by the way. Just another example of the huge disparity in how sex based offenses are handled, depending on who you are and who you know.
She received a life sentence on the registry. Few here would agree that that is a light sentence.
I agree, but she was not sentenced to life on the registry. That is a collateral consequence of her conviction. I’m nit picking because if registration was a part of a sentence as are incarceration and fines, it would be considered punishment. That would simplify any ex post facto or bills of attainder arguments.
Registration is an integral part of the sentence. It’s just that courts have usually held that registration is simply a clerical requirement. Nothing collateral about it at all. It’s explicitly written right into the law under which you are convicted.
Jacob, I get what you’re saying. But I served 6 years in federal prison with lifetime probation and lifetime registration for a (noncontact porn offense). You seems to imply that the world should pitty her for the harsh punishment of her contact offense that includes no prison time and very little probation just because she has to register for life? Cry me a river.
I’m surprised how easy it is to get intelligent FAC members to change their tune, declare the registry to be non-punitive, and advocate for more jail time.
Just point out headlines like this, and members will look past the punitive impact of registration and validate the public’s view that six months jail plus life registration is not enough.
The news media, and its headline writers in particular, are trying to call our attention to how lightly a female teacher is being treated for a sexual offense. Do we really agree with them that this teacher is being given a slap on the wrist, or do we know better and advocate for more sensible consequences?
I think it’s fair that this individual lose her job, lose her ability to teach children ever again, and lose her ability ever to take a job that would ever place her alone with other peoples’ children. She needs to not be alone with other peoples’ children until she successfully completes treatment with a qualified therapist. She should pay restitution to the victim so that they, too, can get the counseling they need. In my personal opinion. And maybe jail time, but whenever we keep people in jail, innocents suffer.
What else do we want out of her? Do we want her family to be cut off from her for any period of time? Do we want her and her family to face public shaming until she dies? Because that’s what she’s getting, and believe me, it ain’t light.
Ed C is technically correct, and Just Sayin is understandably frustrated. But are we going to allow headlines like this, make us forget what we’re fighting for? (I certainly allowed it to take me off topic!).
I completely agree.
While I don’t like double-standards any more than the next person, there are always two ways to address a double-standard: a right way and a wrong way. Being crueler to women is the wrong way.
Also from Texas
A man just killed himself in court over sex offender sentence
https://www.aol.com/news/texas-man-convicted-child-sexual-005828380.html
Here is one of the commenters on the story after guy killed himself in court (At the bottom of the story are the comments)
LADY
15.9K Points
15 hours ago
I wish all the defendants who are found guilty, took the same actions. It would keep our prisons from being over crowded and save Billions of Tax Payers dollars.
If all who were guilty of sin were to take such action, the world would have no population. Fortunately, my faith and trust in God acknowledges my sinful nature but allows me to repent…do a 180ty…and return to a productive life. Anyone who says they have never sinned, is guilty of lying. While sin is ugly, forgiveness and restoration is beautiful. We have all done things we regret. We cannot undo those things. We can, however, receive forgiveness and move to right wrongs. That happened in my life 24 years ago and that forgiveness has restored my family and we live in each other’s love and God’s peace. Some may be anti-religious but as for me, I know that God has restored peace to me and my family.
Capt
Ironically anyone who had any connection to my case have never bothered or contacted me. They did not even show up to court to dispute anything I said. Having said that, neighbors and people who do not even live near me make it a point to make my life miserable even though they have zero connections to me in any way, shape or form.
I mean if I want to stretch it, the ones on my street may have a tiny fear but come on, people driving an hour to protest at your house is just someone screwing with you. And I agree things will be peachy in Heaven, but right now we are in the Devil’s domain, and he makes sure to bother us at every turn.
Jack, sorry to hear about your situation. When I first moved into my neighborhood back in early 2004, I had a couple of skeptics, but now I get along fine with everyone, and I love my neighborhood. God has answered my prayers. My children and their families have relocated to Brevard County, and we are living a very comfortable life. I even get along good with the SORT supervisor.
Capt
Don’t get me wrong, there are registered people who are being treated way worse than me. It is not even the registry per se. It was once Nextdoor app came out. People who have known me for 30 years suddenly saw me as a monster. I mean what changed? The fact I am not required to notify my neighbors so Nextdoor did it for me? Sound like now notifications go out regardless of if it is required.
Jack, I had to come to the decision a long time ago, if someone doesn’t like me…that’s their problem, not mine. Life is too short to worry about how narrow-minded people think. It’s just not worth the time and effort. I know that my failures have been corrected, and that is all that matters. God has given me the peace that I can experience each and every day. I wake up looking forward to each and every day. Taking on politicians that are prejudiced against registered citizens is a challenge…that is what I trained for, and also is ‘fun’.
This particular moral panic seems to be based on a single specific incident from 2020, and vague assertions of sexual harassment. There is no mention of how many such incidents were perpetrated by those who are not on the registry. Since the vast majority of patients are not registrants, they must not be the dominant cause of sexual harassment.
FAC’s sarcastic comment is right on. The level of care will inevitably suffer if not due to the prejudices that registrants routinely face, but likely due to increased costs from not allowing a nurse alone in the room. The “leper rooms” will necessarily be somehow identified and patients will no doubt get only minimal care.
This proposal is a moral panic solution in search of a problem, and only perpetuates the myths surrounding sex offenders. Ron Book must be losing his touch since the proposal is in Tennessee and not Florida.
Don’t give Book any ideas…
Going to my local hospital for an MRI, I encountered a nurse who after learning I was a SO stuck my arm no less than a dozen times trying to insert the IV. Until this time I had never encountered anyone who had a problem inserting the needle as the veins on my arm protrude due to low body fat percentage. When I told her I had enough and was leaving she called an ER nurse who stuck me three more times before she was successful inserting the needle. They must have enjoyed a perverse sense is satisfaction in their actions toward me. So if you think that some nurses will not take an opportunity to carry out their version of revenge upon you once you’re under their care, think again. Everyone should be concerned about which of a thousand different actions they could perpetrate against you. We need legislation to protect us from them not the other way around.
Kareeeennnnnnnn!!!!!! says: “It would allow us to plan how we would do patient care, not that it would change the care itself any…” …….end of Karen’s quote…
So uhm if it “wouldn’t change they care then it really isn’t necessary..Just anouther way to be a legalized busybody and have someone new to mistreat, abuse and gossip about so low lifes can feel better about their lack of a life.. In the end this right here is exactly what every registry, every sundown law, every Jim Crow law, Every star of david patch, numbered tattoo,burn em at the stake,and in the end gas chamber and trail of tears march has always been about…. how much better of a human can we be by excusing ourselves for being worse then we abuse… In the end do you really think what the group creatively named “sex offenders” did was bad? Then you haven’t seen what society excuses itself for doing have you? Any civilization that calls others criminals while to does worse then those it points the fingers at isn’t much of a society and needs its flag and its country taken from it, and it will happen from the inside out.deservedly so.
I know their are some atrocious sex offenders, i’m not excusing them here, BUT lets correct a broken narrative..these crimes while VERY PUBLIC really are a small number with most of the registry being “padded and fluffed” with ridiculous crimes most states can’t even agree are even crimes. NOW if you add the crimes and harm the atrocious sex offenders have done then add and compare it to the harm and crimes the “justice system, and public themselves” have done as a righteous anger to innocent children,babies,women,spouses,family members you will quickly find who the real demons are.(spoiler alert is it isn’t the sex offenders). I would place a bet that over 100 times the atrocious crimes against innocents have been committed by the “public and justice departments” … What would you like to bet if the media actually did its job and some investigative journalism that the number of legit SEX and violence crimes perpetrated by or assisted to by the justice system and the public against the family’s of and friends of those on the sex offender brand is larger than that which was ever committed by the “sex offender” brand they have created so they could have a target for their hate? We all know they had to create something to hate and commit legal violence against after the Indians,jews,blacks,irish,Japanese, Christians,and Witches were taken away from them…. Says a lot about a society when it cant exist without someone to torment and mistreat….
For anyone in the medical field, less you forget your Hippocratic oath:
Pay close attention to the one I placed a STAR next to Below
OATH:
“I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
*I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know.
Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.
Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter.
May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.”
I don’t understand, why does there need to be a law in Tennessee. Has there ever been an attack on a nurse by a sex offender in that state? I know of no hospital that accepts you for treatment without three things in advance, Registration with your 1. Insurance Card, 2. Driver’s License that is marked with the sex offender designation and 3. Your co pay or a plan to do so. The Hospital or Drs offices have the ability to see the marked driver’s license in advance and would know. I see this as more junk laws being tossed at sex offender. When is ever going to stop, what can they think of next. It is time to make sure we donate money to this organization to have the ability to be heard. Thank You
Let me get this straight.
You are having a stroke. So someone starts CPR on you and calls for an ambulance. You arrive at the hospital. As you are entering the door, you say hold it everyone, I’m a sex offender , it says so right here on my drivers license, so everyone stay back , I’m very dangerous.
Or maybe your wife is in labor ,as you are rushing through the hospital door you holler out to the receptionist by the way I’m a sex offender so you better keep your distance.
Or maybe your son breaks his arm , the bone is sticking out . As you rush through the hospital door you yell I’m a sex offender don’t worry about him, I’m a very dangerous person.
With this new law if I don’t do that I will be immediately arrested charged with a felony and fined.
Now it all make sense, right?
I have a friend who was happily remarried to his ex-wife after he got out of prison, 15 years later.. She forgave him and they were happy again, starting a new life together like they were kids again.. The only problem was he had acquired ED and couldn’t perform as well any more.. Thru the VA he had a procedure done where they placed a prosthetic device inside that allowed him to be “REALLY HAPPY” between he and his wife.. Unfortunately the device stopped working, whether there was a malfunction, or something.. He went back to the VA and told them it stopped working.. The doctor refused to return his calls for 5 or 6 months.. Once the doctor did return his call, the doctor said he wasn’t going to replace the prosthetic device, but, if “the man” was having complications, the doctor would remove it.. The man asked why and the doctor said, “One of the nurses saw your ankle monitor during the first surgery, and, after the surgery was over went to the registry and saw you there.. Then she came to me and informed me of your status.. It has been on my mind ever since that you could be using the device to molest a child.. So, when you said the device didn’t work any more, I was relieved.. When you asked to have the device replaced, I decided, after checking the legalities of it, not to replace the device because I don’t want to be held responsible if you were to reoffend and someone found out it was the VA, and me, that put the prosthetic device in you..” The doctor apologized for his decision, but that didn’t help the man and his wife any.. he, and she, were disappointed.. they couldn’t afford the medical cost to have another doctor perform the procedure.. The man became depressed to the point of putting a .45 caliber in his mouth just before his wife walked in.. She stopped him and, finally, convinced the man that she loved him regardless, that she had always loved him, that she would always love him.. He apologized to her and she said it was “all right”.. but he could see in her eyes that she missed the intimacy..
A few years later his wife died of brain cancer, never having had THAT specific kind of loving relationship she wanted to have with the man..
Now the man sits in his recliner, day in and day out, wondering whether he will ever have a loving relationship with a woman.. wondering whether he should get the .45 out of the closet..
This is a true story.. but it reiterates the problem of having medical staff know WHO YOU ARE.. Whether it be this specific problem, or staff not doing their best to keep you alive..
This won’t help now but VA has a policy that sex offenders are not to receive different treatment than any other veteran. I would definitely pursue legal action.
Thanx man.. I’ll let him know.. But, at this juncture, I really don’t think it would help.. He has given up looking for someone to love, to take care of.. So he just sits.. and waits..
The VA is NOT allowed to discriminate. This needs to be reported to the people in charge.
I hope Tennessee legislators have better things to do than listen to this stupid request. I can just see it now. Come in having a heart attack and you have to go show your card at the sign in desk. WOW!!! And for what sensible reason???
I AM a registered nurse. Part of what we are taught every freaking year in our required skills fair is to NEVER be in a patient room without an escape route. We are taught not to let ANY patient or family member block access to a way out and to push the staff emergency button if they do and will not move. This safety measure is applied as universally as universal precautions are, meaning to every patient or family member we encounter. I really don’t see any need to “flag” those forced to register for a “sex crime” they have been convicted of. The nurse who had the patient blocking her way out should never have been in that position in the first place, and it could have just as easily been a patient angry about any number of things they deemed wrong with their care. The absolute most violent and dangerous people I’ve encountered as an RN are people having psychotic breaks, people in the beginning stages of drug or alcohol withdrawal who are not given the specific medication they want, and parents whose children have just been pronounced dead. I’ve had patients grab parts of my body before, and absolutely do not tolerate it. None of them have been registrants. Once warned if they do it again it’s grounds for kicking them out of the hospital as they are not abiding by the terms and conditions. Many electronic medical records allow for a special warning icon to be placed on patients who have a known history of being violent while in the hospital. That icon does more to protect staff than knowing who is required be on a sex offender registry.
Thank you for sharing this