Husband shoots wife and self in Icu in CA

Nurses Activism

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I read today, how a man went into the ICU in Chula Vista, Ca and pulled the curtain next to his wife's bed, shot her and then turned the gun on himself. The worst part of this is the response given my law enforcement there, when asked if this situation could have been anticipated or prevented. He stated that he didn't think so and "do we want to change hospitals into airports?" Well, yes I think that would be a great idea. Once again, hospitals are let off the hook and not held responsible for having poor to no security measures in place. If I or my family member was in the next bed, I would be working on the heck of a pain and suffering lawsuit.

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

The easiest thing in the world, I have always felt, would be to strike people, patients and healthcare workers in the hospital...Scary thought, but having been confronted by a gun wielding gang member in a labor and delivery situation that I was thankfully able to to talk down, all the while thinking of my family and how they might feel if it went down any other way, I can say nothing surprises me..Maybe law enforcement would feel differently if a few of these things went on in police stations, which appear to be, as the blue line, sacred....Hospitals and health care scenarios are sacred to us too...Too bad they don't see that......And not all feel that way....

Specializes in none.

Nurses don't count to hospitals. CEOs count. Security will only increase if and when a CEO is attacked or killed. If that happens you will see Storm Troopers gaurding the halls. Until the workers get together and demand stronger security you can expect more incidents like this one.

Rx

I live in a small area,but we have one area that is really bad epecialy on the weekends(drugs,gangs).they keep a full-time police officer just for the er at all times and a couple of security guards walking around and 1 in the parking lot/lobby until4 am.the people coming on at 7 am are on their own.guess no one gets mugged between 4-7 am.The gun getting into the icu is amazing and someone getting shot in there is just so unreal.

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Security in most of the hospitals I have worked in, with the exception of the larger hospitals, which on occasion have a police officer there, are all well and good, but one place that even security and the police HATE to come to, is maternity and/or pedi..Tensions are often high with domestic situations...I have been beat up in delivery , smacked around by a rival family member who was not included ( biological father to the baby to be born) when I confronted him regarding the restraining order that was in effect. Security wasn't there even though they had been asked to attend, and came only when accompanied by the police who were eventually called. Good thing this guy wasn't in the mood to kill people.....But after all, maternity is a HAPPY place !

Where I work a few years ago a man shot himself in the middle of the night. Never heard how he got the gun in...was a med surg floor. Very sad for man and family, but also very hard time for myself and the other 2 nurses on the floor that night.

I will never forget every minute of it, but I try to put myself in the patients shoes...how desperate he must have been to do something like that, and he must have felt there was truly no other option for him.

Years ago we had an elderly man shoot himself in the head in his car after waiting several hours in the er waiting area to be seen.Well he didnt pass right away and we had a bigger problem than him shooting himself.This is horrid but true;everyone of the medical staff kept going down to the cat scan room to see his head.I could not believe the disrespect shown to this man.Yes I was curious,no I did not go.All I could think was how lucky everyone was that he didn't hurt anyone.

I know what you mean...when the man shot himself at my hospital, all I kept thinking was what if someone was going into the room at that exact moment and got hurt?? Very scary, thank goodness no one else was invlolved

Originally posted by mother/babyRN

Security in most of the hospitals I have worked in, with the exception of the larger hospitals, which on occasion have a police officer there, are all well and good, but one place that even security and the police HATE to come to, is maternity and/or pedi..Tensions are often high with domestic situations...I have been beat up in delivery , smacked around by a rival family member who was not included ( biological father to the baby to be born) when I confronted him regarding the restraining order that was in effect. Security wasn't there even though they had been asked to attend, and came only when accompanied by the police who were eventually called. Good thing this guy wasn't in the mood to kill people.....But after all, maternity is a HAPPY place !

Hi,

Wondering if you pressed charges against the visitor who assaulted you? I hope so. What was the outcome of the incident?

Were you offered any help after the assault? I am involved in workplace violence issues at my hospital and teach nonviolent crisis intervention. You say you were beaten up and smacked around? What is the hospital doing to prevent other incidents?

Why did you have to confront the visitor re: a restraining order?

That is so dangerous. Sorry to hear about your experiences.

I hope things have improved.

Ida

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Actually, back then it was made light of....People even thought it was funny. Others thought it was sad and even horrible. Nothing was ever officially done, and charges were dismissed....

That was in the mid eighties when I was much younger and had no idea that I could fight things in a more agressive way...

Now I would definitely go forward further...Thankyou for your concern, and yes, I did seek counselling, which helped tremendously only long after the fact....I was both frightened AND angry ( not as much at the people involoved in the actual incident, but the people charged supposedly with protecting and supporting me..) Back then it was often considered a routine hazard of the job..Thankfully, we have come forward since then....

Originally posted by mother/babyRN

Actually, back then it was made light of....People even thought it was funny. Others thought it was sad and even horrible. Nothing was ever officially done, and charges were dismissed....

That was in the mid eighties when I was much younger and had no idea that I could fight things in a more agressive way...

Now I would definitely go forward further...Thankyou for your concern, and yes, I did seek counselling, which helped tremendously only long after the fact....I was both frightened AND angry ( not as much at the people involoved in the actual incident, but the people charged supposedly with protecting and supporting me..) Back then it was often considered a routine hazard of the job..Thankfully, we have come forward since then....

Hi,

I agree that the people you expect to support you are sometimes not there. It really hurts when people make light of it. I'm glad things are better. There's lots of info on workplace violence and violence against nurses on the internet.

Google search: icn violence --brings up the International Council of Nurses fact sheet, World Health Organization, and other sites concerning violence against health care workers.

How are things handeled now? I think we all realize that this is a very violent society. Violence at home, violence in the media desensitizes people to actual violence in the workplace.

There is some research on nurses attitudes toward victims of violence. Maybe those people who thought it was no big deal are getting abused at home so for them it may have been an everyday occurance. Others just can't identify with the victim-it's too frightening.

Our personal safety should always be our # 1 priority. Of course, we are here to care for patients but we can't work in fear.

After a nasty assault on our psych unit I asked my manager if I could present some of the literature on predicting and preventing violence against health care workers. I had participated in a research utilization project in school and was willing to share.

I presented at staff meetings and volunteered for committees at work. Managed to present at nursing grand rounds and was able to get administration on my side. I was asked to teach the psych staff about cues to impending violence and verbal de-escalation techniques. I was sent to Crisis Prevention Institute(CPI) for certification as a Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Trainer.

I teach one day a week and the other 4 days I work as a staff nurse on an acute care psych unit. I have been lucky because I have a really great nurse manager and a really terrific director who is behind this all the way.

People are now becoming safety advocates. We've even been able to have some changes made on the physical structure of the unit. I complained for many years but when I actually came up with some kind of a solution to the problem, people listened.

We stil have a way to go but we're making progress.

Take care and stay safe,

Ida

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