A nurse in New Zealand who reacted to being punched in the head several times by a mental health patient by punching the patient back, was found guilty of breaching the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights and ultimately suspended.
At the time, a female patient had been admitted to a medium security mental health facility "due to increasingly changeable mood, psychosis and associated aggressive behaviours." "The patient punched the nurse several times in the head leaving her ear bleeding and her earring torn out."
The nurse in this situation was a new nurse and probably without the experience and training needed to work with such volatile patients. But, even with training and experience, situations happen. Nurses and other healthcare professionals become the target of sudden violence.
While hitting patients can certainly not be condoned, what do you think about acting in such a manner in self-defense? Have you ever been in a situation where you were the victim of bodily injury inflicted by a patient?
