Crazy Family Member!

[scooby72]

I could not believe it! Kinda long but bear with me.....

My Mom had a stroke on May 1. She is currently on the rehab floor. If

any of you have rehab experience I could sure use your insight - the

thread is in the Rehab Nursing section of the site.

Anyway - there are four girls in my family - one EMT, an LPN, me the RN,

and the oldest - has a coshy job with the government - who is the

smartest of us all! We try to be GOOD family members. We totally

appreciate the staff and let them know it - because we "get it."

So me and my LPN sis are hanging out with Mom at PT today. Pretty

slow day being that it's Sunday before the holiday. An aide comes

running in and says "There's a crazy lady at the nurse's

station - she's screaming at the nurse and she's throwing things!"

PT hesitates while me and sis instantly go into "nurse" mode. No one

messes with nurses! We tell PT to stay with Mom and tell the aide

to call security.

We get out to the station and this lady was crazy!!! Yelling,

throwing anything within reach. Nurses ducking behind the counter

in bunker mode. One nurse trying to defuse her. Still no security.

My sis is a toughie who wades right in. She had grabbed a patient

belonging bag from somewhere and made a BIG production of picking

up things that went sailing, plants, charts, pens, etc. Tsk, tsking

loudly the whole time saying "Oh, gosh - someone could trip on this,

etc." Now crazy lady is confused. Should she listen to this lady who

is picking up her mess or keep yelling at the nurse? Meanwhile I am

standing ready to grab her if she suddenly decides to launch herself

over the counter. Still no security. Crazy lady loses some steam but

at least she is only yelling - not lobbing objects. Floor Supervisor

shows up. Does the whole yada yada thing - you know how it goes.

"Let me know what those nurses did to make you angry crap." Takes

her to an empty room to talk. Still no Security!!!!!

Come to find out - she was upset because Dad was not up and

showered by 8:00 am. It was today - Sunday. She was also upset

because her Dad could not get a good night's sleep because of the

other patients on the floor and that "that nurse" kept waking him

up ALL NIGHT!! Hey lady - it's a hospital - your Dad is ill - DEAL!

What makes me the most angry is that after the ordeal sis and I

asked why security didn't show up. Nurses said that they were

told that they always had to call the floor super before bringing in

security. That's CRAP! Now we have crazy lady roaming the floor

that Mom is on. And the staff has to continue to deal with her as

well. IMHO she should have been banned from the floor. Too bad

if she gave them an "F" on their survey.

BTW - Mom was mad that she missed all of the "action." That tells

us that her cognition is fine. Bless her!

Scooby

[WalkieTalkie, RN]

Wow, kudos to you and your sis for stepping in and diffusing a bad situation. What kind of crap policy is it to call a supervisor before security!? BS...

[Fiona59]

I think we have her cousin up here in Canada!

Never thrown anything at us yet, just stands and glares at us and stares pointedly at her watch.

We've bit our tongues to stop saying, how many people do you have up and showered by 08hour?

But I'd have called security or the police if I'd been there as a visitor.

[Crux1024]

Id seriously question this calling the sup before security policy. Thats crap. It puts everyone in danger.

To you and Sis.....

[catshowlady]

Perhaps when your Mom gets her survey, you could write in complaining about how the facility's tolerance of Crazy Lady's behavior negatively impacted your Mom's stay. :roll:

Seriously, that's probably the only way to get through to the management that their policies are ridiculous. I feel really bad for the staff. How horrible for them, not to have any help with maintaining their safety.

[Jarnaes]

Perhaps when your Mom gets her survey, you could write in complaining about how the facility's tolerance of Crazy Lady's behavior negatively impacted your Mom's stay. :roll:

I hope you make a BIG stink about the lack of security for your mom and the other patients, and how uncomfortable that experience was for you guys. Please write it so the situation cannot be blamed on the actual nursing staff on duty, but rather on the deserving parties of management and their policies... Thanks :)

[Vito Andolini]

The nurses deserve to get hurt (not really, but I'm so aggravated that nurses would follow such a dangerous-to-them directive) if they don't call Security, the police, or both when someone is throwing things and going nuts. If they don't care about their own safety, they should call so other family members, staff, and patients will be safer.

I think you should report this woman to the local police. Seriously. Your Mom is still there, after all. This woman needs a psych eval or a jail cell, one of the 2, since she can't get a beach holiday, which is what she really needs.

[Chanta2]

very funny story.

[psalm, RN]

I hope your sister will write that she collected a bag of items this distruptive visitor threw around. What is wrong with management!

[Riseupandnurse]

If this crazy does anything at all again, please call the police yourself and report a dangerous situation wherein the facility is taking no action to protect their patients and other visitors. Let the supervisor explain that one.

[scooby72]

Thanks for reading about my crazy morning! I really could not believe that the

nurses were so hesitant to call security and put themselves and the patients in danger because a supervisor told them to. I guess my short stint in ER cured me of that. Maybe because rehab nurses are not used to seeing crazy people throwing flower pots? Don't know. Me and sis will be patrolling the halls tomorrow morning - if crazy lady is there - we will be watching her. If she gets out of line? I'm thinking 911.....

Scooby

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

Really does any other profession have to go through this? Does a retail employee have to consult the store manager before calling cops?