[mattsmom81]

Originally Posted by MandyInMS

Oh boy....picture this one.....
Sitting at the desk and hear a strange noise..like a shower going but different..go down the hall and water is in the hall..go into the room where the pt has stuffed linens in the commode and water is pouring everywhereeeeeee...pt admitted with abd pain...with history of MAJOR mental problems...btw a week before he had burned down his gf's house as well as his mothers...starts trying to rip the tv out of the wall..page security STAT....during all this the super/md have been notified and acted like WE over reacted...go figger.....people never stop amazing me :/

Their main concern seems to be underplaying all this stuff and avoid doing anything 'rash' like calling cops doesn't it. Glad he didn't hurt you. Wish more facilities would have 'code strongs' or 'code whites' to manage these type things better. There is some safety in numbers and some aggressive folks will quiet down when they see a crowd. I've also seen successful group tackles to get aggressive folks down to give parenteral sedation...works pretty good.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

We've always been taught that if we get hit it's our fault for "invading" their space. When they are agitated we have to back off and reapproach.

[mattsmom81]

Originally Posted by MUNCHKINgloria72

We've always been taught that if we get hit it's our fault for "invading" their space. When they are agitated we have to back off and reapproach.

Huh? Is this in acute care? We have to 'invade their space' to care for them and their myriad of tubes, lines, cables, monitors, etc. in many cases...and we can be held liable if they hurt themselves too.....gotta love how administrators always seem to try to make everything the nurses' fault...even when we get hurt on the job.

[barefootlady]

I hope you took the time to file an occurrance report and workers comp. I know this sounds drastic, but a bite can cause infestion, muscles pulled during a emergency don't always hurt that instant. I would document that super was well aware of danger patient was to self, staff, and other patients. Hope you called doc to sedation orders and got orders for restraints if necessary. I have been in your shoes, was off work for quite awhile because a patient "fell" on me while others watched. Muscles in back were a mess, needed to rest them, have heat tx, and developed an exercise program. I was threatened with firing, but I said I had a lawyer, so I was allowed time to heal. After reading your account of the incident, seems like barebones staffing and inapproiate admission was a big cause of this incident. Patients with HX of psych behaviors need to be placed where they can be watched, one on one if necessary, but too many facilities admit with another diagnosis listed as main cause and this leads to problems. I used to be the ER screening nurse for this type of patients and believe me, I always had to argue with super for approiate placement on floor. I do feel like I saved many an injury because I stood my ground and did what was best for patient and staff. Too bad they finally ruled the job too costly and placed me in another position. After that, we had code whites nightly.

[mattsmom81]

Thanks for your story Barefootlady. Anything that translates to needing more nurses is going to be viewed as hostile by management...and your good asessments no doubt saved many nurses injury, good for you for trying. Your story illustrates exactly what I see going on in hospitals too.... downplaying serious psych problem. Then if the nurse gets hurt, she obviously did 'something' wrong.