Coworker physically abusive to patients

Nurses Relations

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I am a new grad that has been working in the ER for close to 2 months. I have been assigned to a new preceptor and honestly I do not like how he treats the patients. He uses foul language in front of them and even physically assaults them (slapping and digging his nails into them) he claims it is self defense. He has worked at the hospital for almost 4 years and does not appear to be well liked by half of the staff. I want to report him but I am still in my probation period and I fear that they may terminate me if I do. I thought about reporting anonymously but I'm also scared he will put the pieces together and realize it was me!

He is very friendly with the manager, it is really just sickening how he treats some patients. I feel like this is a horrible secret to keep but I feel I have to in order to keep my job :(

I can see why it is a dilemma for you, maybe you can approach your manager and tell her/him that you noticed that not all staff take the same approach to 'defending' themselves against combative/disruptive patients. Ask if training in non-violent crisis intervention is provided to staff, if not, can it be provided.

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I have never encountered that "defending" in that way is ok or would be "ok". The fact that he felt the need to explain his behavior says something about that as well.

If this is the behavior he is not shy to display when other people are watching him I wonder what happens when nobody watches?

As already mentioned above it is wrong. Ethically and legally and just plainly human being wrong.

So why is this going on?

I had to report violent behavior from a coworker once and it was a lot to deal with including talking to the hospital lawyer and risk management.

You should report your concerns to your manager.

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I can see why it is a dilemma for you, maybe you can approach your manager and tell her/him that you noticed that not all staff take the same approach to 'defending' themselves against combative/disruptive patients. Ask if training in non-violent crisis intervention is provided to staff, if not, can it be provided.

I like this approach better, thank you.

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Oh no that would not fly with me. Risk losing my job or not I would report him. I would rather lose my job than witness patients being abused by a coworker and stay quiet. I could live with myself if I lost a job but not if I saw that and did not report it!

if you are afraid to go to management I would write an anonymous letter for sure! Even IF he puts the pieces together what can he do? Dig his nails into you? Say you lied and wrote the letter? How's he gonna prove you wrote it?

Do do what you have to do to protect yourself but you also have an obligation to protect the patients.

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I am not exaggerating, because it is something you may not have experienced does not mean it does not happen. It is easy for you to say to report and live in a cardboard box but I also have a child to think about.

I'm a single a parent, of 3 kids in fact, and that's not an excuse. You are a mandated reporter, don't get into a job that requires professional integrity if you aren't able to follow through.

Being strong has never served me wrong, if anything it has grown my career.

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I have never encountered that "defending" in that way is ok or would be "ok". The fact that he felt the need to explain his behavior says something about that as well.

If this is the behavior he is not shy to display when other people are watching him I wonder what happens when nobody watches?

As already mentioned above it is wrong. Ethically and legally and just plainly human being wrong.

So why is this going on?

I had to report violent behavior from a coworker once and it was a lot to deal with including talking to the hospital lawyer and risk management.

You should report your concerns to your manager.

I would but again he is friendly with the manager and has worked at the hospital for 4 years. I have only been here 2 months. It may seem silly to most on here but you guys are more likely secure in your jobs. I am brand new to nursing, brand new to the U.S, far away from home and I don't know anyone here. many would never understand my life and the struggles I've been through to understand why I'm so worried of losing my job. When I first made this post I was accused of exaggerating. The person does not know the whole story but yet still basically accused me of making things out worse than they are. Of course noone on here knows whether or not this is even true but it is true to me and it is an issue that bothers me.

It can play out that same way in the workplace, my manager may accuse me of exaggerating, lying or trying to start problems on the unit without any question.

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I'm a single a parent, of 3 kids in fact, and that's not an excuse. You are a mandated reporter, don't get into a job that requires professional integrity if you aren't able to follow through.

Being strong has never served me wrong, if anything it has grown my career.

to me you come off as a bully, you accuse me of exaggerating something you have no knowledge about. I am a new nurse just reaching out to others.

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to me you come off as a bully, you accuse me of exaggerating something you have no knowledge about. I am a new nurse just reaching out to others.

Okay, but do you get what "mandated reporter" means? It means that what you are doing right now (witnessing abuse and not reporting it) is illegal. You are breaking the law right now as we speak. Which would you rather have to explain in a future interview? That you were fired because you witnessed a coworker abusing vulnerable patients and you reported it and were retaliated against? Or that you were fired because you witnessed a coworker abusing vulnerable patients and you failed to report it because you were too concerned about hanging on to your own job? Honestly, what if that old lady were YOUR mother? I'm just astonished at this whole post...

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to me you come off as a bully, you accuse me of exaggerating something you have no knowledge about. I am a new nurse just reaching out to others.

I'm not a bully.

I suspect you are exaggerating because 1) that's common from new nurses (real world is a shock and while real abuse and neglect do occur it may not always be to the extent as perceived by a new nurse) 2) you didn't report it.

You bring up more than being a new nurse in subsequent posts. A single mom. New to the country. No support system. Those are details that would have lent to better understanding of your perspective.

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I understand your concern about losing your job. If you are the sole breadwinner, you have to consider your family.

You really don't have a choice about reporting this.

In my state healthcare workers are required by law to report any unethical or illegal actions by another healthcare worker to "appropriate authorities." The law defines "appropriate authorities" as law enforcement or the relevant professional board. Failure to report will get the witness in legal trouble.

I have seen in the monthly board of nursing reports where they have taken action against a nurse for failing to report patient abuse by another healthcare worker.

I can understand your concern about reporting this to your manager. Since this nurse is not making any effort to hide his abuse, I would be surprised if the manager and others in the department were unaware of his behavior.

You don't have to report to your manager. You can report to your ethics hotline, your ethics officer, risk management, the board of nursing, etc.

You must report this. If he is doing this in front of someone he barely knows, I hate to imagine what he is doing when he doesn't have a witness.

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to me you come off as a bully, you accuse me of exaggerating something you have no knowledge about. I am a new nurse just reaching out to others.

With all due respect she is right about not reporting this and that by law you must. You have asked a question and you have gotten very good responses and you keep going around in circles about risking your job. Do you understand that by not reporting abuse that you have witnessed at your workplace, YOU ARE RISKING YOUR LICENSE.

Not only that, she was bringing up integrity because can you imagine if these patients were your family and the nurse kept quiet? Please put yourself in those shoes.

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You do need to report this. I would perhaps report it through risk management or if your parent company has a website, under ethics.

It is illegal to use physical slapping as a means of "self defense" or to verbally abuse patients (and swearing at them could fall under this category).

Whistleblower Protection Program is general information on protection against retaliation.

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