Anyone NEVER been hit/hurt working psych?

[kingvonnBSN2017]

Good morning nurses!

I am new grad working in psych, about 2 months in and I love it. It's a big passion of mine. I speak to a lot of the nurses on the unit and pretty much all of them say they have been hit, punched, choked, spat on...etc.

Anyone here that works psych that has never been hit or spat on working on their unit? Just curious. Thank you!

[Guest123456788, MSN, RN]

I worked in my first psych facility for a little over a year, I was punched once (in the head unfortunately). HOWEVER I will say that the amount of good days I had and the fulfillment I got from the work far outweighed that one bad experience and I was fortunate to have no serious injury.

[NurseCard, ADN]

I worked for a little over a year in a state facilty that was busy and ROUGH.

Some very very sick patients, and also patient with bad, bad cases of

antisocial personality disorder. Actually I think the majority of our

patients had that diagnosis.

The only time I ever got hit... some woman picked up a spiral

notebook and threw it at me.

I've worked at a couple of other facilities besides that one.

Again, never hit. Well, I take that back, I'm fairly sure that

I've been hit a time or two by one or two of the little kids I

worked with.

Also, I've done some work on the geropsych unit of a

local hospital, and remember a very mentally handicapped

young lady that would come at me swinging, as well

as anyone else in her reach.

You have to stay aware at all times. Never allow

yourself to be cornered by a patient. I used to never,

or hardly ever, go into an adult patient's room unless

I absolutely had to, for a search or something, or to

give a shot. Be careful where you go by yourself.

Be careful who you turn your back on/to. Get help

when a patient is escalating, or a situation. Yell loudly

if necessary.

:)

[jaycam, RN]

I'm the RN on a psychosis unit, for about a year now. Before that, I was a nursing assistant in developmental disabilities/home health for about 9 years. I have about a once every three years streak of getting hit. I actually prefer working in psych because they have less access to weapons. Last time I was assualted about 8 months ago now. Patient walked in on us doing forced meds on another patient, had a pretty quick esculation, and I went to cut him off from the other staff who were doing the hold for meds. Ended up grabbing me by my scrubs and was beating me over the head. I had bruises from the left hand to the base of my skull. That's it. The worst part for me was that I don't remember it clearly. What I remember and what was on the video was two different things. I learned a pretty important lesson about psychosis and personal space from it. It was probably the least hurt I had ever been and I put that down to how many people jumped in to stop it.

[angeloublue22, BSN, RN]

7 year psych nurse here. I've never been actually hurt but I've had a ton of stuff thrown at me and punched multiple times by mostly LOLs that don't hit very hard. Know how to stay safe, really listen when you get de-escalation training. Never trust a patient even if they are the nicest, most normal person you think you have met. Pay very close attention to behavior changes. I wouldn't change it for the world though. I love working with my psych patients. If it's your passion, don't let fear deter you too much. Just make sure you choose a place with good safety measures and support.

[NurseNinja1990]

I've been scuffed up in code situations in psych plenty of times restraining violent patients. The worst incident I've ever seen was a patient took a pretty hefty bite out of someone's arm, spilling blood everywhere, and 4 other staff members had to go to the ED for various injuries. Lucky for me, it was my turn to be charge nurse so I spent the rest of the night filing incident reports and drawing labs on the patient to make sure they didn't have HIV/Hepatitis for the guy who got bit. It is an unfortunate side of the specialty how unpredictable the population can be, but I'd never do anything else.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

I work cardio-pulmonary / general medical / step-down and almost everyone on our unit has been hit / spat on / grabbed... and we're not even a psych unit!

[RN0599, BSN, MSN]

I have been in the psych field, both as a nurse, and before nursing school 18 years ago. So in total, I have been working with psych patients over 35 years now! Ouch! I feel so old! Yes, I have been shoved. Yes, I have been grabbed. I was slapped in the face 1 time, by an elderly med/surg patient with dementia...not on a psych unit! My advice is to always be aware of your environment. Always be aware of your patients. Notice who among them appears to be getting a little out of sorts. Could they use a PRN about now? Watch how you talk to your patients. Maybe that should come without saying, but when it gets really busy, it is very easy to forget yourself and come off a little short with someone. Always be aware of your staff. Don't be completely alone in an area without staff nearby and knowing where you are, too. I love working in psych/addictions. Good luck to you and God Bless!

[jodispamodi]

Well, you have to remember the majority of them have dementia and being in the hospital is a huge environment change and they are around all these unfamiliar people who are telling them to do stuff, or take stuff, etc. I'm positive its very frightening for them and they don't understand your logic (the bathroom is not in here its down the hall, because wherever they come from the bathroom IS there) So they strike out of fear and to defend themselves. I had many elderly ladies screaming "rape" and becoming combative when they were having peri care done. I used to explain to all my aides that they had to remember for that patient it is rape, they come from a generation where body parts are private and also we are cleaning them, especially late stage dementia when hygiene is not something they can do for themselves any longer-if it were me I'd be screaming and kicking too- but I had my aides explain it, go slowly, and tell the patient each step of the way what we were doing, from we're rolling you over now, you're safe to I'm putting cream on your bottom so it doesnt chafe. Usually with this approach the patients were much calmer and easier. Aides are very busy so I always made a point of being present as an extra set of hands and reminding them to go just a tad slower.

In my experience I think elderly might be quicker to hit, or pull hair etc but for them its a defense and very rarely did they cause serious injury. With adult psych patients I saw much slower to hit or become physical but much more likely to cause serious injury. There was a nurse in my area killed a few years ago.

[jetMA96]

I have been in psychiatry/mental health for eight years and never been hit by a psychiatric patient.

[ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN]

Thank you, I appreciate that. I was offered a position on a Medical Psych unit that has mostly older patients w/ dementia. I was told that it was pretty violent unit. I decided not to take that position for many reasons. Lol.

Your welcome kingvonnBSN. Yea that is a good idea that you did not take that job. Violent dementia patients are tough to deal with, let alone with other psych patients in the mix. They tend to take up a lot of your time.

[nursejessica722]

In my experience, the most violent are the substance abuse patients, followed by the cluster b personality patients.

[guest52816]

Thank you, I appreciate that. I was offered a position on a Medical Psych unit that has mostly older patients w/ dementia. I was told that it was pretty violent unit. I decided not to take that position for many reasons. Lol.

I don't think you will regret your decision! Best of luck with your continued job search.