interviewing after assaulted by patient

Nurses Relations

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I have been waiting a while to feel safe enough to be able to seek support from all of you at Allnurses and it is still too soon for me to divulge everything, but I need your help.

Over the last eight months I have been going through the worst time of my life. I was assaulted by a patient and rendered temporarily disabled and was treated very poorly in the process. I have been staying current by studying for the CCRN and although I am not yet ready to go back to work, I will be well enough soon (God willing).

In the interim, I had to settle for the worker's comp lawsuit (I did not want to have to sue but was being treated very poorly). Consequently, I had to resign from my position when I accepted the settlement. The settlement is very modest and only will help me survive the next couple months until I can get back on my feet.

Where you come in

I am very anxious about how it will go for me when I start applying for jobs. I am afraid to disclose the real reason for my previous resignation because of the stigma of back injuries & worker's comp in nursing.

As I understand it, if a future employer checked with HR, they would only be able to say the dates I began work and resigned (and that they won't rehire me) and they would have no way of sharing my disability.

I need your advice on how I should explain why I resigned instead of continuing to work like I assume most people would do in this economy before being hired elsewhere. I want to tell the truth, but I know how nursing is now and I need to look after myself.

I am so upset over all this. Critical Care/Nursing has always been my passion. I worked so hard to get where I am and I just want my career and my health back. I am having difficulty recovering because I am so stressed about my financial future. The last few months have been a struggle with absolutely no income (not even WC benefits or disability) and I can't imagine more months of unemployment ahead.

I am really looking for your support and guidance. Any help or words of encouragement is appreciated (Job leads are great too ;) ). I have been wanting to share my troubles with you all for so long but didn't feel safe doing so, until now and I am sorry for how vague I am being, but I am still very paranoid after everything that happened to me.

Thank you so much in advance.

Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

This nightmare is not your fault. Do not let any entity make you shoulder any responsibility for any of it. I am so very sorry you have to deal with this tragedy and even sorrier that you had an employer that treated you so shabbily.

Human Resources is a misnomer everywhere I have ever worked. There is no "Human" in it.

I hate that you had to settle without suing the socks off your employers, but I understand that we all have immediate needs that must be met.

I wouldn't mention all this unless asked, and if asked tell the truth. Don't bring up the lawsuit.

Thoghts and prayers from a sister nurse.

Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

Even if the lawsuit is brought up, the suit was settled in your favor, NOT in your former employer's favor. You have no guilt in it at all. I think the outcome of the suit, IF THEY bring it up, would end up not hurting you...

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

I have read all of the above responses and there's a good bit of collective wisdom expressed. But I would worry about sharing the workers comp suit up front. It's just such a huge red flag to employers.

And maybe I'm carrying baggage from a previous employment experience :o, but just consider the possibility of interviewing with a hiring manager/director, sharing the story about being assaulted by a patient, and having your interviewer immediately conclude that you must have done something to provoke the incident. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but just bring it up so that you can plan how you would handle that possibility.

Good luck to you OP. Sending good thoughts your way.

Prior to actively starting your job search perhaps you could get a letter from your MD stating you are cleared to return to work. It could help with conveying closure to the incident and an ability to move forward?

I can't believe there are not clear cut laws protecting nurses from exactly what has transpired here. Shameful!

I, too, wish you all the best in your job search. It's good to be prepared but don't try to anticipate every potential outcome. You'll drive yourself a little nuts. Be honest, be confident and let fate have a chance to intervene as well!

One more thing... consider LTAC facilities in your area. Apparently they utilize critical care nurses. I'm not an expert as I only learned of them from posts here on allnurses but could potentially be one more avenue that could help you get back on track.

Great wisdom from everyone here, and I hope you are able to get back into nursing soon. I worked on the legal side of medicine for a few years, and I would NOT bring up the lawsuit to potential employers. That information is confidential and it should remain confidential. A close friend of mine recently received a settlement against her company because of sexual harassment. She was able to continue working within the same industry and neither she nor the company she received the settlement from has said anything about it. Also, I don't know if they can legally say that they won't hire you; I'm pretty sure they only give dates and the typical response to the eligible for rehire question is no response. Also because you were already involved with them with the settlement, they won't want you coming back for further suits. If they're smart, they will let you go nicely and not make any fuss over it.

One more suggestion, just in case you're afraid of not getting hired on in your current area is to look into moving to another area. I know this might not be possible with your situation, but it's just a consideration.

Congrats on getting back out there; sounds like you're an awesome nurse. Don't let this get you down!

My personal experience has been that it is not in my best interest to divulge that I have been assaulted while working at a former place of employment. I have no advice to give you because as I see it there is no good advice. I am very sorry this happened to you and wish you all the best in your personal recovery. Some say to be concerned with yourself and let the job take care of itself. I echo that idea. No job will ever be worth as much as your own health and peace of mind.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
thank you for your support :)

yeah i am curious to see what the consensus will be regarding explaining the lawsuit upfront or not. i will probably learn through trial and error, too--which responses were negative and what i should avoid in the future.

i'm just worried that they will see lawsuit and immediately drop me.

my other concern is if i open up about the disability, they might want to know exactly how much time i took off and i would rather not share that information because i feel it would negatively impact me. they might be concerned about my competency, for example, or worry that if i had to miss work in the past, i might have to miss work in the future.

it's just so frustrating that i even have to worry about these things, because you're right; i did not do anything to cause this and trust me, i only did the law suit because i had no other choice and it protected my career at the time, although it doesnt seem to be doing me any favors now.

i feel blacklisted and it is so frustrating because it's not like i was negligent. i was trying to prevent my patient from hurting himself and instead i am the one who is hurt and it's my career that could potentially be ruined so early on :(

thanks again

i am so sorry you are going through this....a very good friend of mine went through this and if you weren't in ca i'd thinking you were at the same facility.

http://www.massnurses.org/health-and-safety/articles/workplace-violence/p/openitem/1629 she also gives seminars about surviving workplace violence.

http://www.reachmd.com/xmsegment.aspx?sid=3542

you did nothing to deserve this and the hospital is amoral for allowing you to go through this alone!!!!!! charlene knows exactly where you are comming from and she decided to blow the whislte loudly!!! so she fights back everyday teaching other nurses how to heal and find that strength.....my prayers xoxo

On interview, you might mention reason for leaving as needed to recovery from injury sustained in assault by pt. Note recovered status. On receipt of offer, you might mention reason for ineligibility for rehire. Wonder what others think of that... I agree with others that you demonstrate courage and strength worthy of admiration. I think you will find hiring managers that think this, too.

I wonder if you might tell in a general way how you were assaulted so others can learn from it... The risks we face daily are scary...we often don't even think about them.

One other comment... I had an open workman's comp claim for a back injury when offered a new job. --All the new employer wanted to know was if I had any work limitations. I did not. They hired me.

esme, as usual, your responses are incredibly helpful.

(((op))), i'm sorry.

i am too, linking you to mna (mass nurses assoc) from their health/safety page.

please note the toll free number at the bottom.

http://www.massnurses.org/health-and-safety/contact-us

you should probably check out your own state's nsg association, as they may have resources for you as well.

if you had a lawyer, i might consider calling him/her, and getting feedback re advice for re-entering the workplace as well.

wishing you the very best.

leslie

Specializes in critical care, PACU.

About disability... even though you're doing ok now (relative), get any disability insurance you can :) You may never need it- or you could break an ankle walking the dog and be off for six months with pins, screws, and rehab.... I always insured myself to the max, and it was good I did. I've been disabled for 7+ years- and without the portion the insurance pays, I'd be in a bad way :) I recommend it to anyone- nobody plans on being off work :o

Oh yes. I definitely learned my lesson. If I had additional disability insurance this all would have been so much easier. Thanks

Specializes in critical care, PACU.

And maybe I'm carrying baggage from a previous employment experience :o, but just consider the possibility of interviewing with a hiring manager/director, sharing the story about being assaulted by a patient, and having your interviewer immediately conclude that you must have done something to provoke the incident. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but just bring it up so that you can plan how you would handle that possibility.

I am worried about this perception, as well. Nursing is often a blame game and you are often darned if you do, darned if you don't. The only way I could have avoided injury is if I let my patient harm himself, and there is no way I would have done that, but not everyone would see it that way.

Specializes in critical care, PACU.
Prior to actively starting your job search perhaps you could get a letter from your MD stating you are cleared to return to work. It could help with conveying closure to the incident and an ability to move forward?

That's a good idea. I could get that and then have it with me in case the disability comes up.

I can't believe there are not clear cut laws protecting nurses from exactly what has transpired here. Shameful!

There are laws against discrimination but there are so many ways to get around it and it's not like I am going to be all litigious and sue them for discrimination. I have seen so much anecdotal evidence in the Nurses With Disabilities forum. The interviewer can always say that you werent a good fit without saying it's because of the disability or suit.

I, too, wish you all the best in your job search. It's good to be prepared but don't try to anticipate every potential outcome. You'll drive yourself a little nuts.

This is true. I think right now I just feel so vulnerable that I am trying to control my future in any way possible when really it is out of my hands.

One more thing... consider LTAC facilities in your area. Apparently they utilize critical care nurses. I'm not an expert as I only learned of them from posts here on allnurses but could potentially be one more avenue that could help you get back on track.

I will consider non-critical care things but that is what angers me about this situation.

I graduated at a very young age and have wanted to work in critical care for more than five years. I have worked so hard. If you recognize me from old posts, you will see that I have never received a B in my entire college career and overachieved all through nursing school so that I could be the best critical care nurse I could be.

I love that specialty and now because of someone else, I might have to give up my dream and work in specialties I am not passionate about. Of course I will do it and certainly do my best at it, but it upsets me deeply all the same. Nursing has never been just a job for me. I have always been utterly passionate and absorbed in my career. Ugh. I try not to think about all this because it just upsets me and nothing is certain, anyways.

I just hope that if I work in a different specialty, I can get back to what I love eventually. And this isnt ICU elitism. It isnt about critical care. This just happens to be what I love to do. If it was medsurg or outpatient or ER or OR or peds that I was passionate about, I would be just as vocal about it.

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