My patient rights were violated by nurse Jessica Fetzer working at the Essentia Health Emergency Room in Fargo, North Dakota. This violation occurred in 2013 and the repercussions of her maltreatment continue to reverberate throughout my life. One consequence is how badly Fetzer damaged my ability to place trust in any medical professional. The trauma she inflicted upon me continues to impact my ability to seek continuing care for multiple health conditions related to my being disabled.

Over the years I have shared the details of what Fetzer did to me with several care providers and therapists. Some have even suggested that I make an effort to communicate the effects of Fetzer’s actions directly to Fetzer herself. My latest efforts began in November of this year.

I managed to make an appointment with a nurse working at the West Acres Clinic. I had thought this particular nurse was the same one who violated me in 2013. However, I was mistaken. Regardless of my mistake, this nurse kindly and compassionately listened to me speak of that traumatic incident one more time. I found this nurse’s willingness to listen quite healing. Still, explaining myself to yet another person who is not the one who caused me serious injury left me without the sense of closure I so desperately have needed these past nine years.

Today, I received a phone call from one of the Essentia Health department heads in Duluth. It was after that phone call I realized I no longer wish to speak to Fetzer. Instead of facing me and what she has done, she has forced me to jump through hoops playing phone tag with various patient advocates and different supervisors throughout the Essentia Healthcare system. I have even been told that if I want a meeting with Fetzer then I need to hire an attorney.

This suggestion is laughable considering my sole source of income is disability insurance. Also, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice has lapsed. I would have brought a lawsuit years ago, but by the time I had processed the trauma well enough to understand that Fetzer’s actions violated my rights – it was too late. My only remaining recourse has been to face Fetzer herself and explain to her why what she did was so damaging and how it has altered the course of my life.

But after contending with so much hostility and stonewalling, I no longer wish to speak to Fetzer. Instead, I want her fired and I want her to lose her nursing license. The case for terminating her employment is building with every contact I continue to make with other Essential Health employees. Not only has she wasted my time, but she is wasting the time of her colleagues and that of her employer. Also, violating patient rights is rarely a one-off incident. I have to wonder how many other patients she has violated over the years of her career as a nurse. I wonder how many other patients she traumatized so deeply that to this day they still are unable to speak about it. I cannot believe this is the type of nurse Essential Health would want to keep in its employ.

Over the course of being a person with disabilities, I have interacted with numerous healthcare professionals. The vast majority of healthcare professionals treat me with respect, kindness, and compassion. Jessica Fetzer’s behavior exhibits none of these qualities. Rather – she is cold, cruel, and inhumane in her treatment of me and I have to imagine other patients as well.

I no longer wish to tell my story to Fetzer because I now understand that she has no interest whatsoever in helping me to heal from the trauma she inflicted on my body and my mind. Her refusal to communicate with me tells me she is aware that what she did to me is wrong. Her refusal to communicate also tells me that she has no interest in helping me to move past the damage she did to my life. That is her prerogative, but I also have a prerogative to see to it that no one else is subjected to the type of treatment that has been issued to me by Jessica Fetzer.

Thank you for reading this letter. I hope you will put serious consideration into terminating the nursing career of Jessica Fetzer in consideration of what she did to me years ago and the torment her actions have inflicted upon me and countless others every day since.