The terminated nurses felt they, too, should receive the differential pay when caring for ICU patients. It wouldn't have mattered if it was 50 cents or a dollar. Carol Dimse, RN, the hospital's assistant executive director, said the decision to terminate the nurses was a difficult one. But there was a very strong feeling among all of us that this was so inappropriate and so against what nursing stands for. If confronted with a similar situation today, however, the nurse acknowledges she might take a different approach.
All parties agree that the patient was never in jeopardy.