Something’s fundamentally unsettling about the recent incident in Utah where a police officer manhandled and arrested a hospital nurse when she refused to turn over a blood sample from an unconscious patient.

All across America, cops and nurses perform a partnership of “night watch,” staying alert to emergency needs and situations while most of us sleep. Their spirit of cooperation is epic; devotion to their careers routinely borders on heroic. We take it for granted that health care and law enforcement are driven by a common purpose — to serve and protect the public good.

But that spirit of common purpose broke down at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Alex Wubbels, a nurse in the hospital’s burn unit was following hospital policy and the law when she refused to let Salt Lake police Detective Jeff Payne take a blood sample from an unconscious truck driver who had been involved in an accident stemming from police pursuit of a suspect.

In 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a blood test cannot be administered without the individual’s consent or a warrant. The case, Birchfield vs. North Dakota, also determined that a breath test could be administered without consent.

Payne did not have a warrant or consent from the unconscious patient, who was never accused of any wrongdoing in the police chase or accident. Consequently, he ordered Wubbels to do his job — gather evidence. Instead, Wubbels did her own job. She protected the rights and privacy of her patient and notified Payne of the laws and policies requiring her to do so. He responded like a bully.

Wubbels obtained a copy of the body cam video of the confrontation. She released it last week, saying she was dissatisfied with the police response to her unjustified arrest.

She should be dissatisfied. All of us should be. It’s essential that criminal cases are thoroughly and properly documented. A blood sample obtained without consent or warrant is not admissible in court, and it jeopardizes the entire prosecution. This is what due process is all about.

Meanwhile, it has always been assumed that those of the night watch — namely, nurses and cops — are on the same team and pulling in the same direction. We’re grateful for their vigilant professionalism, and aware of the herculean pressures they routinely face. The hard truth is that the formalities of documentation, due process and accountability are as much for their own protection as they are the rights and protection of anybody else. We have rules for a reason.