ER violence

Specialties Emergency

Published

Hi

I'm interested in knowing what types of violent situations you may have been exposed to in the ER. Does a lot of it come from drunks?

Thanks

Matt

i agree with you but I think Patrick Swayze said it best in Roadhouse, "If somebody gets in your face and calls you a **********, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you, and you'll both be nice. I want you to remember that it's a job. It's nothing personal. I want you to be nice until it's time to not be nice."

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
nah...i'm actually not kidding. Family/patients don't have have the right to threaten me. Not to sound like a hardass but if push comes to shove, i'm gonna shove. These people have to understand they can't cuss out and hit nurses in the ER whenever they want. I got into this profession to help people, not to get beat up or be verbally abused by people.

Dont worry, you will outgrow this

been there been that way

Specializes in ER.
Just went to a boring mandatory class that included a section on restraints. The person conducting the class said she'd been a mock-surveyor for JCAHO.

One of the places she surveyed was in Colorado Springs, where when asked to see their patient restraint policy (in ER) was told they didn't have one because they didn't use them. What? No, they use tasers. And have a written protocol and those who carry them are fully taser-certified. She said the Gangs had proclaimed the ER a no weapon zone, and there was a place to put guns and knives. Also said that employee injuries from patient violence had plummetted since the use of tasers when into effect.

To which I say: THEY ROCK!

Anybody from Colorado Springs who can verify this? And if it's all true, then I certainly hope JCAHO is bright enough to bless the whole thing. I wouldn't bet the farm on that (them being bright enough or that they'll bless it) but I applaud the facility for taking a stand on the health and well-being of their employees.

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How AWESOME it would be to work in an ED with tazers in effect. My dream come true!! But then I'd want to tazer the he** out of a lOOOOOT of patients!!

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How AWESOME it would be to work in an ED with tazers in effect. My dream come true!! But then I'd want to tazer the he** out of a lOOOOOT of patients!!

Wonderful. That way, if the person being tazed has a cardiac arrest, they will get prompt treatment. The use of tazers, by police departments, is being questioned. They have no place in a hospital or a hospital's ER, IMHO.

I am sure you are only joking but the hospital in which they are used is not. And it appears they have taken the easy way out of their control issue.

Grannynurse :balloons:

Specializes in ER.
I would like to respond from the other side, when a patient feels threatened by a nurse. I am a very hard stick, for drawing blood and starting IVs. I warn the nursing staff of this and request someone who is known for successfully starting on hard sticks. Generally, my request is met in a positive manner. However, I had the experience of having a nurse refuse to stop sticking me, after I had requested she stop twice. The third time, in a very loud voice, I threatened to hit her, if she didn't stop immediately. Needless to say, she stopped and it bought a doctor and two other nurses to my room. This nurse was committing assualt and battery on me. However, I have been criticized, by my peers, for threating to strike this nurse. Criticism I feel is totally unwarrented. Yes, they are patients who can and do assault staff, as do their family members. On the other hard, there are staff who assault their patients by threating their well-being and their physical well being, in the guise of 'helping'. There are two sides to every picture.

Grannynurse :balloons:

If only I had a nickel for every time I have heard "I'm a hard stick..." And I get it on the first try. Pts need to understand that we start IV's on sooo many pts every DAY, many of which are dialysis pts and they are the most challenging. This is our job, and most of the time the IV starts are the easiest part of it. Pts just like to bring a little attention to themselves and add drama.

Specializes in ER.
Wonderful. That way, if the person being tazed has a cardiac arrest, they will get prompt treatment. The use of tazers, by police departments, is being questioned. They have no place in a hospital or a hospital's ER, IMHO.

I am sure you are only joking but the hospital in which they are used is not. And it appears they have taken the easy way out of their control issue.

Grannynurse :balloons:

Better to have some protection in an unstable environment and deal with the repercussions on that level, than to handle an injured nurse. I have yet to hear of cardiac arrest as a consequence from tazers, and we get those in custody almost daily that have been tazed by the police.

Specializes in ER.
Better to have some protection in an unstable environment and deal with the repercussions on that level, than to handle an injured nurse. I have yet to hear of cardiac arrest as a consequence from tazers, and we get those in custody almost daily that have been tazed by the police.

Actually, Amnesty International has reported 103 police taser related deaths since 2001. The date ranges from June 2001 to March 2005. With 13 of those deaths just in the first 3 months of this year...I'm not saying in the right setting they aren't benificial, but, they are not benign weapons either...

Better to have some protection in an unstable environment and deal with the repercussions on that level, than to handle an injured nurse. I have yet to hear of cardiac arrest as a consequence from tazers, and we get those in custody almost daily that have been tazed by the police.

Has anyone ever questrioned why one's ER receives, in custody, people who have been tazed by the police? Sorry but two people have died, here in Florida, in the past six months. The effectiveness, of controlling a person, is not disputed. It is the consquences of being tazed and the supposed studies, by the manufacturers, that is being questioned. And a number of law enforcement communities are questioning these supposed studies.

And I would like to point out one thing, there is no guarentee that one will never get hurt or even attacked at work. One's employer has a responsibility to attempt to ensure that it's employees remain as risk free as possible. This does not mean, in my opinion, give an employer the right to arm staff with a potentially letal device, to ensure no nurse gets hurt. And, in case you are wondering, I worked in a NYC public ER, one of the largest in the country.

Grannynurse :balloons:

Specializes in ER, ICU.
I think it is time for a change, for you. And for your patients. You are setting yourselfup for burnout.

Grannynurse :balloons:

This profession is what causes burnout. We work hard to learn our jobs and to stay current. We work like dogs caring for entitled jerks. Our employers hate us. That all being not quite enough, we must have other nurses picking on us. I take it back.............................. it isn't really a profession.

I had a knife pulled on me the other night. I wasn't in danger really, he wanted to kill himself because he wanted an immediate "Cat Scan", we call them CT scans in the UK, so I can only imagine he'd been watching alot of ER. He held the knife to his throat, but when I pressed the emergency button, he put it away.

What annoyed me was that the fact that it was a swiss army knife meant that it wasn't determined to be a threatening weapon - I mean, that thing could have pierced the heart of any of us - but apparently too small for arrest! The knife was taken from him and because every one of us refused treatment of the man, he was removed from the ED.

It goes on every day, I've been in the ED for three years, so it doesn't exactly phase me, but to say a knife is too small at three inches, that's madness!

Cx

=

This profession is what causes burnout. We work hard to learn our jobs and to stay current. We work like dogs caring for entitled jerks. Our employers hate us. That all being not quite enough, we must have other nurses picking on us. I take it back.............................. it isn't really a profession.

I am sorry that you have had such a poor career, that it has given you such a negative attitude. Burnout can be avoided, if you really want to avoid it. And I have rarely come across entitled patients, or as you refer to them, jerks. And while I have had one employer that did not support the nursing staff, I left and worked for a very supportive woman. And advanced thru her company. And she was extremely supportive, following a bad accident that left me permanently disabled. You need to get some type of support and therapy. Your anger issues will interfer with your ability to work productively.

I feel sorry for you. You must be very unhappy.

Grannynurse :nurse:

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