Breaking a contract?

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Kind of rambling...bare with me...

It's sort of a non issue for me at this point, since my contract is up as of today. But Monday night, with 2 shifts left, I was punched twice by a patient, and then he threw his walker at me - all because I wouldn't let him and his broken hip walk to the bathroom. This guy was completely alert and oriented, just an *******. (This man also happens to be a VERY wealthy VIP, and the supervisor and CEOs have been bending over backwards for him, making no secret to the staff that they are hoping for a monetary donation after this admission.) I told the nursing supervisor what had happened (I had staff witnesses, too), and her response was "You need to find a better way to deal with him, and under no circumstances are you to restrain or sedate him". I told her I wasn't comfortable taking care of him and requested a new assignment, she told me that I couldn't refuse a pt. As much as I hated to play this card, I told her that I had 2 days left, and that if my safety wasn't a concern, that I would leave. To which she informed me that I would be breaking legal contract and there would be reprecussions...end of story, I stayed, but traded assignments with a male nurse.

I've been in nursing for 8 years, a traveler for 6 months. I have never before refused to take care of a pt, but I've also never been assaulted by a pt before. I could absolutely understand if they wanted to come after me if I walked out on a contract because there was just a personality conflict, but hello, I was HIT, and then basically told tough ****, deal with it. If anything, wouldn't you think they should be worried that I'd press charges for failing to provide me with a safe work environment?

What happens if you break a contract? Will they really take you to court, or would you just have to pay a fee? Does it put a black mark on your record, or it just between you, the hospital, and the company?

BTW, I completed my shift Monday night, and completed my last shift last night. I honored my part of the contract. The CEO? Got a phone call from the nursing supervisor Monday night about my incident, and brought that pt Starbucks coffee Tuesday morning. Jackass.

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Your contract will tell you of any financial penalties for breaking a contract.

Did you file an incident report about this assault and battery by the patient? Did you inform your agency?

I'm sorry, but assault is assault and I would contact a lawyer and file a police report and press charges. You are a human being, a professional, NOT a doormat who has to be physically and verbally abused while on the job. The fact that this abusive pt is wealthy is immaterial. The hospital has treated you (as they probably treat all their RNs) as expendable cogs.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
Your contract will tell you of any financial penalties for breaking a contract.

Did you file an incident report about this assault and battery by the patient? Did you inform your agency?

I'm sorry, but assault is assault and I would contact a lawyer and file a police report and press charges. You are a human being, a professional, NOT a doormat who has to be physically and verbally abused while on the job. The fact that this abusive pt is wealthy is immaterial. The hospital has treated you (as they probably treat all their RNs) as expendable cogs.

Somehow I get the feeling that they wouldn't be all that sympathetic to her problem. Check out this story.

http://nurse-ratcheds.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to "The War Against Nurses Part II"

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Natkat,

I know you're right ... thanks for the link to Nurse Ratched's blog. But ... one has to try. Nursing sucks as a profession ... it is one of the most dangerous professions with a high injury rate ... where else can a woman work and be so undervalued and disrespected so consistently by so many? Maybe public school teachers .... Oh yeah, I know ... marriage, every other patriarchal institution .... violence against women is OK even in the workplace, as is sexual harrassment ... after all we have to be understanding of these "sick" people, don't we? It's women's place to put up with bad behavior and violence, right? Those who commit violence against women/nurses are used to not experiencing consequences of their actions because they are in positions of power and privilege by virtue of being male/MDs/patients or administrators with connections to money and power in the local community .... But the nurse in Nurse Ratched's blog did persevere and followed through. Only when each and every nurse in every facility in the USA stands up and says "no more violence against us" will change happen.

On a lighter note the Andy Warhol thing on the blog was cute.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
Natkat,

I know you're right ... thanks for the link to Nurse Ratched's blog. But ... one has to try. Nursing sucks as a profession ... it is one of the most dangerous professions with a high injury rate ... where else can a woman work and be so undervalued and disrespected so consistently by so many? Maybe public school teachers .... Oh yeah, I know ... marriage, every other patriarchal institution .... violence against women is OK even in the workplace, as is sexual harrassment ... after all we have to be understanding of these "sick" people, don't we? It's women's place to put up with bad behavior and violence, right? Those who commit violence against women/nurses are used to not experiencing consequences of their actions because they are in positions of power and privilege by virtue of being male/MDs/patients or administrators with connections to money and power in the local community .... But the nurse in Nurse Ratched's blog did persevere and followed through. Only when each and every nurse in every facility in the USA stands up and says "no more violence against us" will change happen.

On a lighter note the Andy Warhol thing on the blog was cute.

Thank you Selke. I thought about that after I made the post, but too late to make any changes.

Yes, definitely document and follow through. I also think she did the right thing by switching assignments with someone. Sadly this guy probably wouldn't act like that with a male nurse. It's so frustrating.

I agree completely that we have to be the agents of change in this matter. Until changes happen I don't expect too much from management. I was verbally abused for hours by a patient I had the other day but I couldn't refuse his care. I called my supervisor for advice, and she helped me get through it, but made it clear that I was expected to stay there.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

With an actual physical assault by a patient who was otherwise "in control" of himself ... I would have told the supervisor that night that I was calling the police. I would ask her if she wanted to be present when I made the call. I would ask her the hospital's policy on whether or not the Security Department needed to be notified that the police were being called. I would ask her if she was the person whose name I should give the police as the person in charge here when the police arrived or whether there was another person whose name I should give them.

In other words, I would make it clear to her that I was calling the police and filing charges. She could either deal with me now (to convince me not to file charges) or she could deal with the police later. I doubt she would want the police bothering the VIP, so she would probably choose to deal with me now.

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