As a legal matter, I understand the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in overturning a ban on buttons worn by Sacred Heart Hospital nurses that read: “RNs Demand Safe Staffing.”

Some nurses wore the buttons during contract negotiations with the hospital in 2003. Sacred Heart executives issued a ban. The appeals court ruled that it wasn’t enough to worry about the patients’ reaction, the hospital needed to document that before squelching the nurses. I can see that; evidence is better than speculation. But if I had seen such a button, I would’ve felt like I was being used. Who wants to be in a hospital where the nurses are calling into question its very safety?

The nurses said they thought it was important for patients to have that information (all four words), but come on. It wasn’t like patients were being given objective health-care data. Instead, they were being used as pawns to help settle a subjective point in a labor negotiation. And if a patient’s blood pressure went up, oh well.

If union members can’t see that the patients’ best interests – as opposed to their own – were not being considered, then they ought to think about how they might react if they were to confront buttons such as:

Airline pilot: “My Shift Is Too Long.”

Police officer: “Don’t Leave Home. Period.”

Teacher: “Smaller Class For Me = Smarter Kid For You!”

Overdose of politics. The button issue reminds me of the time an obstetrician in Richland “fired” a pregnant patient after she refused to sign a petition about a medical-malpractice initiative he was promoting.

Yep, back in 2005, Dr. Mark Mulholland couldn’t accept that the patient was sympathetic to the general right to sue, so he advised her to see another doctor.

Like the nurses, Mulholland said he did it for the patient’s own good, telling the Seattle Times: “She will have a better doctor-patient relationship with someone who is not as committed to this cause as I am.”

Of course, that relationship could’ve been maintained if he had kept his inquiries limited to her health. The oath is: “First, do no harm.” Not, “First, agree with my politics.”

How would you know? GOP presidential candidate John McCain says he will not accept criticism from Barack Obama on the GI Bill legislation in Congress because Obama hasn’t served in the military.

Hmm … I saw a horrible movie recently and I was going to warn everyone, but since I’ve never been a director, who am I to judge? By the same token, if you’ve never written a column, keep your negative comments to yourself.

Praise, however, is fine.