Anyone experience "cold threats" from clients at your facility?

[cincin1]

I like to be prepared. I didn't ever stop to think this would happen to mental health workers before my training, but evidently it is not rare...

I am also looking for good tips for keeping a low profile at work and decreasing the risk of patients gaining unwanted info about me. Therefore, FB account will soon be going, blocking access to my car license, etc.

I can assume that a worker/nurse who is smart/observant, sticks to the rules, is consistent and doesn't make friends or "deals" with the patients will not have unwanted problems. However, if someone starts threatening my family or lets me know that they know where I live; it will make may skin crawl.

So please share all that you know with me. I appreciate it, and will feel more informed and therefore, better!

[stressednurse70]

cincin1, are you a nurse pressently? Did someone threaten you at your work? You sound sort of paranoid about patients and/or their families. I work med/surg, not behavioral health so most of my patient population is very different, but in either case you do need to be a professional in your approach to you work. I am not saying to be cold and hard, but you are not their buddy. You are their nurse. I know many of my coworkers have facebook accounts. I don't but that is just my choice. Just be careful of what you supply on there and know it could be seen not just by patients, but also your bosses and the doctors you work with.

I hope this helps.

[wee_oneRN]

I am sure the OP knows it is important to be professional in any area of nursing, but Med/Surg is very different than Mental Health. There are many clients/pts in mental health that do not reason or think as you or I. Some blame others and want to hurt others for their problems. Many do not have 'normal' social skills and do not understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

That being said, I think that it is wise to block your information from the public. Even the facebook account deletion is a good idea. You could use an alias if you wanted to keep it, but you would have to be very diligent about keeping identifying info off of it.

No matter how professional you are in mental health, there is the possibility of running into a pt that has decided you are the reason for all their problems. Or the opposite, you know have a 'true love' stalker! You can't just reason them out of their un-reasonable thinking. That is why they are there in the first place!.

Ask your facility about safeguards they provide or recommend. For instance, security guard to walk you to your cars, etc...

I'm sorry I do not have any concrete suggestions as I do not work in mental health as a nurse. My experiences are just from nursing school and research/studies for a Psych degree.