Are we safe? probably not...

[sasha2lady]

I work in LTC where we have a rehab dept....and by rehab I mean PT, OT, ST.....we got in a new admit who is a domestic violence victim, her 2 sons BEAT HER UP when they were all drunk and on drugs. She and her sons are alcoholics and known drug abusers...cocaine, marijuana, narcotics..and those are the ones we know for a fact they have been recently using and have done for years. This pt is with us b/c she and her sons got in a brawl over a freakin hot dog! One son beat her face into a wall and once she was down kicked her and beat her all over resulting in broken ribs, facial fxs, a liver laceration and a few other things....My boss came to me yesterday and told me to watch out for her sons...b/c they might bring in drugs for her.. and then she tells me that there is no ex parte or restraining order against these men and that they can come in our facility any time they want to without question. umm...WHAT???????????? She said the pt wants her sons to come in....well...thats fine if you are at home..but to me thats just inappropriate and unsafe for our entire facility both to our other patients and us..the staff. My concern is what if they decide to come in and they are drunk and high and decide to kill us, or shoot us or rape us or rob us...to get the narcs....that just recently happened right here in NC at a nursing home when a guy went in after his wife who had left him and he shot the place up including her and some nurses.....ANYTHING is possible these days...and I just dont feel safe with that patient being with us. She showed out so bad to the nurse that actually had her and she wouldnt listen to any of us..she was wanting more and more pain meds that she couldnt have...and like always..she was on a morphine PCA pump at the hospital. then she turned and said that the nurse 'FORCED' her to take her xanax and that if anything happened to her then it was on her and that she would get her fired...there was 3 of us nurses there and nothing was forced whatsoever...she asked for her pain pill and a xanax. Thats what she got. She was threatening to leave and I had the AMA papers ready for her to sign so that she would get outta there. ....the admissions girl had came to us earlier and said she was going to be 'fine"...and I said "fine? no this is not fine! this is dangerous...we do rehab...we dont do drug rehab...this pt needs to be at a drug/alcohol detox center or a psych ward. We are all at risk in here at night on 2nd and on 3rd shift" she just laughed about it and went up the hall. When the boss told me to watch out for the son bringing in drugs...My response to that was "I dont care what he does with her as long as he doesnt hurt anybody....I am not getting in the middle of NOBODY's domestic violence issues. If he comes in this building and does the least little thing out of the way Im calling 911 to come deal with it. I will try to protect myself and my coworkers."....and with that she said "well..im going home". WHAT???????????? does a facility not have some kind of duty to protect us too? We had a similar situation before when the administrator allowed a very mentally defective and troubled teenage boy rage through our facility any time he wanted and he told us to be his "mentor"....umm..again...NO WAY. This teen cussed and threatened all the nurses and aides on my shift except for me...now why he avoided doing it with me ..I dont know. He even brought a gun under his jacket one day...they did nothing. I cannot wait to get the **** outta this place! Please cross your fingers and pray that I get another job soon. I still havent heard anything from my last interview when they did my drug test and background check..its been a week now and Im on pins and needles. Im nervous about going in this pm b/c we dont have any cameras, our doors dont get locked til 1130pm although I might go lock up myself at 8 pm tonight....and we have no way of protecting ourselves. I keep my cell in my pocket at all times so itll be with me should i need it. Just another prime example of how this place doesnt give a **** about us.

[NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN]

That sounds like a dangerous situation and I definately wouldn't want to be in it. If her sons come in drunk, then you can call the cops because drunk people tend to disturb the peace and they are a hazard to the other residents. I would not hesitate, CALL THE COPS.