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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/zerothreeonethree on 2025-03-23 09:18:04+00:00.
I worked as a night supervisor in a small private psychiatric hospital years ago. Department directors of individual patient units were on site from 8am to 5 pm Monday thru Friday, so there was a bit of overlap in supervisory responsibilities between 3pm and 5pm. The director of the high security acute care unit did not care for me as a supervisor, nor as a human being. She made it very clear that she was in charge until 5:00pm, not sooner. At every chance encounter, she had some snide accusation or remark to make about night shift, whether real, perceived or imagined. Nothing I ever did was correct or good enough in her mind. One day the evening supervisor traded shifts with me so she could attend her granddaughter’s school play that afternoon.
On that day, I received oncoming report from the nursing director including ongoing construction progress as the facility upgraded its appearance. About 1 hour into the shift, I had completed oncoming rounds on the second floor and had just arrived on the first floor when a fire alarm sounded. The hospital operator announced a “Code Red” on the second floor South wing, opposite and 1 floor removed from the acute care unit. (It was later discovered the construction workers accidentally set off the alarm.)
Nobody was to evacuate their area unless in imminent danger, told to do so by a supervisor, or ordered by a member of the fire department. At night, everybody was in their beds, so all staff had to do was a head count and shut all doors. During daylight hours, patients were up walking around the halls, in group therapy sessions or with individual counsellors. I instructed the charge nurse to gather all the patients and staff into a large dayroom, complete the headcount and remain there until the “all clear” was announced on the intercom.
As I started to leave, the unit director entered and demanded to know why all the patients weren’t “lined up at the door”. Stupid sleep-deprived me didn’t understand this was a rhetorical question. I started to explain that this was the safest way to keep track of this population, and they were in no immediate danger. She didn’t wait for an answer, she started yelling for everyone to line up at the back door and leave the building. Just then, 2 firefighters arrived and asked me where the exit was to the outside courtyard. I pointed down the hallway to where the director stood with 25 confused patients and staff in front of the exit.
The lieutenant got about halfway to the exit, stopped and looked at me and asked “What the hell are all these people doing blocking the fire exit? Who’s in charge here?” I walked up to him, pointed at the director and said, “She is.” I immediately turned to walk off the unit, listening to the lieutenant loudly telling her “They should be in a room with the doors closed, not blocking an exit! We need to get outside, and you put these people directly in our way. The alarm location isn’t anywhere near here! You have multiple barriers and firewalls that must be breached before you must leave! etc. etc.”
At the next all-management meeting, the hospital administrator announced that in the future, directors will stick to managing their individual department issues. Shift supervisors were to remain in charge of global hospital operations, including managing emergency evacuation of patients during fires and other building threats. The director never spoke to me again. Win-win.