Nurses, have you been been spit on, pushed, scratched and verbally or assaulted?

Nurses Relations

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  1. Nurses, have you been been spit on, pushed, scratched and verbally assaulted?

    • 1211
      Yes
    • 178
      No

1,389 members have participated

Unfortunately, it is quite common in the nursing profession to have had been assaulted one way or another by a patient at some point in your career.

For some reason, it is tolerated in the nursing profession and is just accepted as "part of the job"? Police do not tolerate this type of abuse, nor do most professions, why is it tolerated in the nursing profession?

Do to recent stories of fatal violence in hospitals, I wanted to poll all of you AN'ers and see what kind of percentage of nurses from all specialties have had to deal with violence in some fashion.

I think we all would like to see policies change to have a safer work environments, please share this poll with your nursing friends, Facebook etc.... Thanks

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Please take a second and answer our poll, then if you wish, please share your stories of your experiences.

Specializes in Home health, pediatrics, case managment.

It's funny because I have been there. Not being choked, but punched in jaw while bathing. We do this for the LOVE of being a nurse, NOT the money. My nursing home patients are mostly confused, but baths still need to be done right?? If it were up to some pt's they would NEVER eat, change clothes, or take showers. That is why WE are there!! Your post brought back so many memories. I am sitting here ready to QUIT RN SCHOOL because I am exhausted & failing!! I LOVE helping people....even the combative ones!!

Specializes in Psychiatry.

Being a psych nurse, spitting, hitting, verbal and physical abuse by patients is VERY common. I thank God everyday that I would with an AWESOME group of individuals that have my back EVERYTIME I need something.

That whole 'having each other's back' thing is so great when it works (which is almost always) and so stunning when it doesn't.

I have NEVER failed to respond to another nurse calling for help. It would not even occur to me not to respond as fast as my lil' feet would fly. After all, who knows what could be going on in that room? There could be a patient coding, a nurse being hurt, some one readying a weapon, anything.

The first thing I was taught as an E.R. resident was 'If you need help and can't leave, just yell'. In the E.R. that always worked. When I changed units, I assumed it would always work everywhere that there were a lot of other nurses on the floor.

Noooope.

A while ago, I was trying to keep a dementia patient (who had already made a bloody mess of the place by yanking out her IVs) from determinedly flopping her 300+ pound body out of her nice safe bad and onto our unit floor. She was not able to support her own weight. Although I have but one back to give my profession, I wasn't planning on trying to carry her if she got loose. Normally I'm very good at calming patients, but this lady had decided she was going to get up and out, and nothing was going to stop her. My attempts to keep her in bed did little except to turn on the 'mad fury' button in her mind.

When she started trying to land punches where my face had been (fortunately for me she was big but slow), I yelled out the door 'Can I get some help in here? NOW, PLEASE!!!' and went back to trying to protect the lady from herself. No one came. I yelled again, and finally a DON and CN ran in and were able to manage things. Well, they were able to call for more staff so there was some one with her at all times. Same difference.

I left the room to de-escalate the situation further (somehow the whole trying to pulverize my face deal convinced me I wasn't the lady's favorite staff member), and who did I see in the room RIGHT NEXT DOOR? The nurse I'd been giving report to when all **** broke loose. Did I mention the IV - tearing - off dementia 'Fist of Fury' lady was her patient? She had been calmly doing a complete assessment on the in-no-distress patient next door, the whole time I was yelling for help and getting punched at. Turns out she wanted to get her assessments done before morning trays arrived. Charming.

This bit-o-venting wasn't really why I wanted to post. I wanted to post to mention that being cursed and punched isn't really the worst injury we face, as members of the healing profession. We CAN get stabbed or shot in the performance of our calling. When someone comes in off homeless and just off a 5 day bender, I'm taking all the time I need in order to completely search their belongings bags. I've found lighters, drugs, and yep knives AFTER the admitting department supposedly 'already checked'.

Just saying.

As a student nurse I had a pt show me some inappropriate photos on his phone after telling me he wanted to show me photos of his daughter or something. They were xrated to put it mildly. He laughed because he had tricked me into looking. He also made some lewd comments at me and some of the nurses. After that he was only assigned male nurses, and the nurse manager spoke to him about his inappropriate behavior. He was not confused or anything like that. I have had a couple of mentally ill pts who I do not blame for their actions--nor would I allow them to get between me and the door.

A family member of mine who is a long term nurse had her hand pulled so hard by a mental pt and then was threatened with a pocket knife by the same pt. The nurse's wrist and hand had some torn ligaments that took a long time to heal and she still has some weakness in that hand. She told me to always protect my hands, never offer them for a pt to pull on for lifting or walking, offer your arm instead or better yet ask for the CNA or someone else to help.

Specializes in Med./Surg., Diabetes, Med. ICU, home hea.

My last 2 jobs were psychiatric; I've been punched, kicked, scratched, bit, threatened, had food and juice thrown on me, spit on and splashed with urine. I've been to the urgent care 3 times last year and still undergoing blood draws. Of all the times I've been hurt, it was Axis II crap, rather than psychosis.

This is one subject that, in my opinion, can't be brought to the forefront enough. The ONLY thing that makes me angrier than administration telling me "its part of the job" because their profit margin is more important than our safety is other NURSES telling me "its part of the job!" Violence against health care providers should NEVER be treated lightly or as "part of the job." "If you don't like it, find a new job" is not the answer to violence in/against nursing (and all health care providers). The "mantra" of "If you can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen" should never be directed at health care staff by administration. The mantra of "If you can't protect your staff, get a new job and face liability" should be the "mantra" of, and for, health care administration. Disability insurance and/or Social Security is not the answer for the disgraceful way we look at this subject.

Violence against health care providers NEEDS to be prosecuted and punished, with the exception of the demented and those who are truly psychotic through no fault of their own.

Specializes in ICU.

All of the above. All occupational hazards.

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
all of the above. all occupational hazards.

ditto for psych patients.

Specializes in Med./Surg., Diabetes, Med. ICU, home hea.
All of the above. All occupational hazards.

Now, THIS is the attitude that allows this to continue... violence against medical personnel is NOT "an occupational hazard." It is UNNACCEPTABLE in any form for any reason. It IS a failure of administration to protect their employees. As we see an increase in this type of violence, it would seem that OSHA may need to get involved. Threats to worker safety has been identified, measures have been taken by employers (posters on bulletin boards, inservices, committees formed, etc.) that is NOT effective, yet nothing further is being done in most facilities, especially smaller ones.

Clients and their families who are NOT psychotic need to have charges pressed against them backed by facility administration; those who ARE psychotic need to be staffed with enough personnel that any and all circumstances can be handled and if an assault occurs, charges need to be filed if there was any negligence on their part (i.e., not taking psych meds, substanc abuse, etc.).

We health care providers, especially nurses, do (and should) care for our clients under a plethora of circumstances. Unless we perform our duties as active military on the front lines in time of war, violence against us is, again, UNNACCEPTABLE! For those of us who consider violence "normal" or an "occupational hazard," maybe we need to divide our care centers into two wings... one for civilized people and those who expect a safe working condition, another wing for those clients who, for what ever reason, find violence "normal" and care givers who are martyrs and find violence against them "unfortunate" yet "acceptable."

I have been spit on by a 3 year old who also knew a few choice 4-letter words

I have yet to be assaulted by an adult, and hope it never happens

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I was slapped this week. It stunned me.

Specializes in cardiology/oncology/MICU.

I got kicked and grabbed by the same patient tongiht. He is old and a bit loopy. Why do I always pick the crazies?!! LOL

Specializes in Geriatrics/Alzheimer's.

I've been kicked, punched, slapped, spit on, and called everything under the sun. However, I work with alzheimer's patients and they could never be held responsible for these actions. You just learn when to duck.

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