[Peri]

Originally Posted by suanna

How about locking up the nursing administration for kidnapping when we get mandated to stay over!

I don't know ... I'm just in favour of locking them up!!!!!!!

[Simba&NalasMom]

Originally Posted by KaroSnowQueen

OH HE!! YES!!!!!
I had my arm broken by a kicking patient. We had been told he was combative and to get someone to help. I had two orderlies and two aides holding his legs while I changed a toe dressing, he broke loose from all of them, kicked me and broke my left arm.
I did NOT get excused from work to go to the ER that night (was in LTC about 20 yrs ago),worked all the rest of the night and went to my PCP in am. DON did NOT want to hear about it the next day. Never did get workman's comp to pay a dime of it.
I wouldn't be that way now!!! I'd scream for an ambulance, and send every bill to the DON and tell her to kiss my fanny. And of course, no consequence to the patient at all.

Humph...sounds to me as if maybe facilities should be brought up on charges as well. Patients/residents sometimes have dementia or other psych. problems which causes them to become violent, but when a healthcare worker gets the cra* beat out of him/her and the facility does not care...that is truly criminal. Talk about salt in the wound. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

[CookieCritter]

Originally Posted by Kim O'Therapy

Does this include dementia patients, brain injury patients, or any patient not under the influence of illegal substances?

I personally would not call the police on a person who had dementia and a brain injury no matter what they did to me, I don't feel they can help it. If someone else called for me I would sign a waiver of prosecution and since I would be the victim, there would be no case without me or the "victim" in this case.

In my area if the injured party (nurse, doc, whoever) decides whether or not the person who hit in the first place should have the police called on them.

I personally have not seen a case where anyone did so where it wasn't dropped in a matter of a few days. However there is a lot of brain trauma, dementia, alzheimers type stuff here in the sunshine state. We have don't have to wear helmets to ride motorcyles, we have lots of water sports, and lots of elderly people. Brain trauma is par for the course with all that going on.

In fact my friend's teenage son had a brain tumor last year and was very combative after the surgery. He spit, hit, and kicked more than one nurse. Not a one of them filed charges and the family was horrified by his behavior. The nurses and docs explained he really didn't know what he was doing and wasn't in a state where he was responsible for his actions. He has since recovered fully and literally had no idea he

Also in this area even a healthcare workers still wants the person charged after admitting they had a diagnosis of brain trauma or dementia then the state attorney's office most likely would decline to prosecute even if charges were filed and drop the entire case.

Like I said though this is just this area. I cannot speak for other states and their interpretation. NY has a strange one going on right now along this line.

[KelRN24]

Good point avalonlake. I think it is all a matter of context. Certainly a medical issue is quite different than that of a beligerent drunk or mean-spirited person that refuses to be cooperative and abuses the very people that are taking are of them. I had to have a man arrested that repeated hit and kick me and then proceeded to stalk me outside the ER. Unfortunately this line of work subjects nurses to patients' worse sides at time and in the ED especially it is commonplace, which it shouldn't be.

~KelRN24

[mianders]

I worked in the ER for a long time and verbal assaults are common. There were were several times I was physically assaulted. One time I was triaging a woman that jumped on top of me and just started punching me. Another staff member had to pull her off me. When questioned about why she did it her response was she was in so much pain she didn't know what she was doing. Our security called the police and filed a report, but the police acted like it was no big deal. If it had been a police officer that she attacked it would have been a big deal though. Nurses should not have to deal with verbal or physical abuse. The laws should reflect this and then people would not feel like they can get away with it.

[CVSICU20]

Recently we had an incident of a first year nurse being assulted. The courts can truely differentiate between aggression and dementia,but because of our "tasks" to preform during our shift, we encounter the aggressive patient in the line of delivering medical care to them. They are generally on a hair trigger to say the least and can explode without warning. Why should they be treated any different than anyone else that would assult you in a dark alley, corner drug store, gas station or medical surgical nursing floor?

[MeeshellRN]

I actually got kicked in the face this past November (it was T-day night) and was told by HR and workman's comp that it should be "okay" because he was confused and didn't know what he was doing. I didn't get compensated for the time I missed.

[KelRN24]

MeeshellRN, it is unfortunate that your employer did not provide the support that you needed. In a time where staffing is critical one would think that supporting staff would be a priority; certainly ensuring they are safe. Verbal and physical abuse/violence is not apart of nursing. We as nurses should not have to take sefl-defense classes in order to care for their patients while protecting ourselves.

~KelRN24

“Some people think that doctors and nurse can put scrambled eggs back into the shell” Dorothy Canfield Fisher

[MeeshellRN]

Thank you so much for your support!

The thing is-my boss fought for me but our HR department didn't think it was a "big deal." My nose was broken and I was off work for 4 days and told if I wanted to receive workers comp, I had to miss 8 work days (i work 12's so that's a LOT of days). I'm now having some sinus issues and migraine issues that we're having a difficult time getting covered by workers comp.

I've learned to get the hell out of the way when patients get combative--although--i thought I was out of the way at the head of the bed the last time but apparently that wasn't quite out of foot shot!

[KelRN24]

I too have learned to stay out of the way - when I was newer to ED nursing I was in the middle of the scuffle but now after being kicked in the head, grabbed by a drunk guy who would not let go and others, I have learned that it is not worth it. I recently had shoulder surgery which was most likely due to catching a patient that had a syncopal episode while trying to stand. He was a lot taller and heavier than I and I foolishly thought I could catch him! I would definitely think twice how I handle any of those situations...I am much too small in comparison to most patients to abuse my body the way I have in the past. I am certainly paying for it now. Oh and by the way, Workman's Comp did not cover it either.

~KelRN24