Do nurses get away with nurse brutality

[DesiDani]

Nurses like police are supposed to remain calm and professional at all times. What someone sees is a matter of perspective. We can close the curtain, so that 6 person team to give a combative patient handol is not displayed on the news. Or straining someone's grandma to put in a ng tube.

If the public saw what we had to do would we too be accused of brutality?

[Lucydog14]

I smell a troll.

Its not brutality. It's doing things that are necessary.

[Buckeye.nurse]

Muno, your comments reminded me of a video by ZdoggMD "Ain't the Way to Die". Most of his stuff is sarcastic/funny, but this video made me cry. I wish family members watched it prior to visiting. Here's a link:

[Have Nurse, ADN, RN]

Police brutality can be without a gun too. If the neighboring patient can be spooked they can perceive your actions as unjustifiable. It is a matter of perspective

That's one reason why we need to educate. :)

[Wuzzie]

I have never in my 3 decade long career been brutal to a patient! I have done difficult and sometimes painful procedures but I have always, ALWAYS kept the fact that it is a human I'm caring for in the front of my mind. The term "brutality" implies an intent of causing harm and a level of malice that does not exist, outside of the occasional psychopath, in the arena of nursing. To describe what I do as "brutal" is insulting.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

I liked the 'straining' myself. Straining to poop, straining through a colander, or restraining?

I totally read this as "straining poop through a colander

I case the kidney stone came out the wrong place.

(sorry)

[ponymom]

I wanna know where he/she is working that there are six staff members on duty and able to be in the room at the same time...

[trytounderstand]

Patient dignity and privacy should be protected at all times! I have had and have had family exposed that was totally unnecessary in medical procedures all because someone did not take the time to make the door stayed closed, the curtain was pulled or the patient covered with a sheet before leaving a room or being transported. Unless a life is truly saved there is no reason for a patient to be put on exhibit.

The same a medical personnel need to be protected.

[Neats, BSN]

Comparing the police to nursing is like comparing apples to strawberries. Although they are both fruit they do have different qualities. Nursing and the police are really public trust jobs.

A police job is to protect people and property. They respond to situations for serving warrants, making arrests, enforce laws and they even rescue/revive victims while waiting for medical personal...

My job as a nurse is to provide direct nursing services working in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team environment. This include performing skilled nursing tasks such as wound care, IV administration, reviving patients, feeding patients... I do no harm even when my patient escalates into a behavior that is out of control. I do not carry any weapon with me other than my own verbal skills. If my patient walks away I know and have documented that I attempted to redirect the patient, and I know they are doing no harm to others or at the time no harm to self...when my patient is harming self or attempting to harm others this is another story. I protect my patient and others by restraints if necessary much like a parent protect their child from crossing a busy street i.e. holding hands (is this a restraint), looking both ways...or baby proofing the house and placing gates up (this is a sort of restraint).

The police well I do not think we should be compared to them.

I one had a patient in the prison system who had HIV and wanted to give it to anyone that would come close to them. This patient was restrained many times because of their out of control behavior that included a spit head cloth on the front of their face and occasionally "chemically restrained" . Although you may look at this as brutality I look at this as keeping this patient safe and protecting others from the spread of disease. This is way different from a cell phone in hand and shooting someone or for that matter having a mental challenged person sitting on a public sidewalk doing no harm and the police will haul that person off to jail for loitering or worse, place them in a prone position and cause death.

[audreysmagic, RN]

Restraints 1

I keep thinking of this...

No, restraints aren't fun. I hate them. I support psych facilities looking for alternatives to mechanical restraints. But they're necessary sometimes, unfortunately, especially on the medical side of things. And I've only ever seen one situation where a staff member was intentionally too rough with a patient, and they lost their job.

[DesiDani]

Guess I should of added "perceived". Some incidents can be easily described as being unnecessary harsh to an outsider. We just have the benefit of a closed environment. There are good cops and bad cops, just like there are good HCW and bad ones too. Some HCW do get away with brutality and to say it never happens is a lie.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Guess I should of added "perceived". Some incidents can be easily described as being unnecessary harsh to an outsider. We just have the benefit of a closed environment. There are good cops and bad cops, just like there are good HCW and bad ones too. Some HCW do get away with brutality and to say it never happens is a lie.

Who said it never happens? No one here said that.

[DesiDani]

Really, did you know that some hospital guards are armed. Do you really think that a mom is going to care that her son was shot by hospital guard versus over cell phone by a cop