There's a legal case brewing in New Jersey where nurses have sued the hospital claiming that physicians threatened their jobs if the nurses did not perform during abortions. The hospital claims that the nurses have made false claims.
I suppose it's possible that the nurses "misinterpreted" what they were asked but it's an awful lot of misinterpretation to go public and sue. What really happened will come out in the courts hopefully. But I am struck at the similarity between this situation and the Penn State sex abuse scandal.
What on earth could be the similarity you say? The similarities are plentiful. This is partially or conceivably a whistleblowing case. It is also a case where maybe the policies around the federal laws on this matter are not so clear and the hospital maybe isn't so steadfast in its exercise of the policies -- I don't want to second guess that.
But maybe all big nonprofit institutions are really challenged in making and enforcing (if they do) sound policy that policy that protects consumers, employees and the institution. Maybe we have a bigger institutional challenge that deserves more attention by all nonprofit boards. After all, policy making is pretty much the core job a board has and if these policies can't be or aren't enforced then, after the correct heads role, the policies might need some examination to be consistent with mission.
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