I am a nurse in LTC and have had to deal with abuse (verbal, emotional) harassment from a patient for quite awhile now. Management knows this is going on as they have been informed repeatedley and there is documentation to support it. After all this time, things have come to a head and I refuse to put up with this behaviour anymore. Supposedly psych is to come in to consult re meds. None up to this point, why would they start taking them now??
My feeling is this. Who they gonna get rid of? A patient that brings in money or a nurse complaining about abuse and harassment? What are my options? How long am I supposed to put up with this stressful hostile environment? Yeah and I could quit, but come on, we all know in this ECONOMY if you have a job you better hold on to it. I'm doing my best but this is causing BP problems (mine) chest pain (again, mine) and severe anxiety!
There are all kinds of procedures to follow when is the shoe is on the other foot, ie, staff to patient abuse, but in my situation it's put up or shut up. Put up with it or quit.
I know there are several legal steps I could take, but what? How do I start?