Pressing Charges Against a Patient

[missjustice]

I'm a nursing student working on a medical telemetry floor. We currently have a patient who two staff members are pressing charges on for assault (he has AIDS and bit one, and the other he punched in the face.) Due to a mild language barrier and him generally being uncooperative, the doctors are still working on figuring out if he has some kind of psych issue, or he's confused, or if he's just very unpleasant.

Since the two employees (a nurse and a tech) have decided to press charges, security has been sitting outside his room 24/7, but that's it. He's become a lot more hostile even less cooperative since this happened, and most of the nurses agree that he thinks that we're all 'against him' now. As far as I can tell, this isn't really true- I don't notice anyone treating him differently, but I can definitely understand why he would feel that way. It seems really strange to me that they wouldn't move him to a different unit, but apparently that's not hospital policy.

What's the usual protocol for dealing with situations like this? And what exactly happens if you pursue charges against a patient?

[JBudd, MSN]

I was bitten by a pt earlier this year, she was convicted of two counts of felony battery on a health care worker. Still have a small scar on my forearm, doesn't look like it will be going away. Around here, they don't have a choice about having blood drawn and tested for diseases; fortunately she was negative for all.

Yes! press charges. The DA's office told me she was found "barely competent", but she pled guilty.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Yep, press charges, BTDT.

Sent the drunk idiot to jail for 6 months and he now has a felony.

He hit me in the face with a fist. I had him arrested and pressed charges. At the trial, he said that he shouldn't be held accountable because he didn't remember the incident and he was drunk.

Nope, no way, no how - in IL its a felony and I'll press charges every single time a pt/visitor/whoever lays a hand on me.

[kat7464]

Until the public (aka patients) realize that nurses are not punching bags, these attacks will continue to happen. I may only be a home health nurse, but believe me, if a patient assaults me, I WILL press charges. We need to protect our profession from the attitude of patients who feel they are entitled to act out their frustrations. Sorry! It doesn't work that way. I need (and want) to stay in one piece for those folks who actually care and benefit from my training and compassion.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Yes, it is possible to have a patient who has assaulted a health care worker successfully prosecuted.

Ideally, the patient would be moved to a different unit for the remainder of his stay, but perhaps that's not possible due to the organization of units in this particular hospital or the patient's condition requires specialized care.

[JacksonCare]

Some of these incidents sound terrible. It would be useful to hear details about what happened immediately before the assaults occurred. Were the patients just sitting there quietly, or did anything lead up to the assaults? Not a complete picture of what happened before the assaults, only what happened during and after.

[bear14]

If he bit someone knowing that he has HIV and can transmit it, its called criminal transmission of HIV and therefore can be arrested for it. I used to work social services and the police would call us so they didnt have to deal with the paperwork. I used to love going into police stations assessing the client and telling them that I am not going to hospitalize them. Leaving and them having them deal with the clients!

[Tankweti]

He ought to have been charged with manslaughter for the death of the baby. This patient will be just as dangerous when he gets out of prison and will likely injure someone else. Once on meth, 90% of people can never get away from it, just like crack. This man is a danger to everyone but I can guarantee you that he received a relatively short sentence. Unfortunately, I know a lot about this firsthand. My husband, who is now deceased, was a crack addict.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Tankweti,,what happened to your husband if you want to share? Dont want the hijack the thread though.

Yes press charges!

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

People who have the AIDS virus are also subject to dementia, behavioral issues, organic issues directly related to the virus Neurological Complications of AIDS Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

What astounds me is that a person who is acting so out of control is not medicated appropriately before he would get to the point of hurting someone. It puts everyone at risk.