Okay, here's the initial story; I'm not sure if this link will work, so I'll highlight it, just in case.

Ten Filipino nurses resigned from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Center in Smithtown, NY, at the same time. They said they left because conditions were dangerous, they'd brought their concerns up to management, believed nothing was going to get done, and resigned, without notice, because they believed if they gave two weeks notice the company would find charges to hit them all with and take away their licenses. And now, they find themselves under indictment by the Suffolk County DA's office for endangering the welfare of a child and endangering the life of a physically disabled person.

I've got mixed emotions on this one. On the one hand, people should be able to do whatever they feel is necessary as it pertains to themselves. There's never really been a law that says a person has to give notice, but healthcare can be a different animal. When nurses decide to go on strike, there's little that can be done other than hiring temporary nursing staff and hoping to recruit some of them to work for a facility. I guess the difference is that, in that situation, management knows the strike is coming and is ready to put a plan in place. These nurses complaints weren't new, but they felt things were getting critical, and they didn't anything to happen to them. I don't know anything personally about this nursing home, but I have seen other situations where management in nursing homes and hospitals have been underhanded enough to try to ruin someone else's career; I can understand the fear.

On the other hand, this rehab facility has mainly children in critical conditions, and having 10 nurses just up and leave without notice will immediately put a strain on already short finances, possibly put patients in danger because the remaining staff, already overworked, will have to put in even more hours, which obviously isn't good for anyone.

Still, criminal charges? I'm thinking that's a bit much. A review by the state board found that no patients were liable, but that doesn't seem to have altered the DA's mind any. But it begs the question as to just how much responsibility does anyone have after taking care of themselves first, and I don't mean moral responsibility. For instance, in some communities in California, they've tried to pass laws which says police can arrest anyone they suspect might have information about a crime because witnesses in those communities aren't usually forthcoming in telling law enforcement what they saw. Thing is, there's no enforcement because the police have no clue who to arrest, nor the manpower to do it. During a tragedy, does a person have the responsibility to save others more than they have in trying to save themselves? Are we all expected to take a bullet for the person standing next to us if we happen to see the shooter and they don't?

The nurses sought legal counsel before they all resigned, which means they didn't just decide to leave without any forethought. If the nurses get indicted, the lawyer should also get indicted. However, I don't believe anyone should get indicted. This happened in April 2006 after all; everyone has moved on, no patients were harmed, and, in my opinion, the DA is just grandstanding; it is an election year after all. The bigger question,... I can't answer that one for anybody else.