Light reading on workplace violence

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.

So just doing some reading for a paper and an interesting statistic jumps out on me. Before anyone starts flaming me for saying this is just part of the risk of being a nurse, hold your horses, I'm not up in arms or on a rant. I just find this interesting and maybe a little sad that we aren't as valued or protected as we should be. Maybe we are now, I just jumped on here to post this without researching to see if this was still the case. I'll have to investigate tomorrow (getting late here) and maybe someone reading the thread knows and could inform me.

If it is not true anymore, wonderful!

As quoted in the article Who would want to be a nurse? Violence in the workplace - a factor in recruitment and retention by Jackson & Mannix

Prepare yourselves...drum roll....

in all but 2 states the assault of a nurse is a misdemeanor. However, assaulting a teacher, school bus driver, or prisoner is a felony. Interesting, huh? On the 1-10 surprise scale, I'm only about a 3. How about you?

I can just see recruitment posters -- "I can take your temp & I can take a punch!" Ok, more creative types could probably come up with something better.

I remember there was recently a thread about doctors yelling and one poster said a doctor had inadvertently hit them in the head with a phone they launched across the room. I cannot even imagine. I must have it lucky. Other than in a psych setting, the worst I've had is a 72 year old kick me in the head while I was inserting a foley. For just a second I think I cleared up. :)

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Well there's some good news, the NANDA nursing diagnosis guide says to use the intervention of knocking a patients front teeth out if they choose to assult you.

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
Well there's some good news, the NANDA nursing diagnosis guide says to use the intervention of knocking a patients front teeth out if they choose to assult you.

Doesn't the PDR have an off label use for cold cocking that physician that chooses to grab your arm to "get your attention" (only happened to me one time!)

I don't know how I'd react if an alert, oriented person hit me. I don't see myself being the type to have a knee-jerk physical reaction. I might have to really try hard not to lose my professionalism and curse though.

Ok, seriously. Is physical violence something you see very often in your workplace? Most of these studies I'm reading exclude ER and psych settings. Other than the AMS patient swatting at you while you auscultate, I'm curious if anyone else has had much experience with physical violence or the thread thereof from patients, family, or coworkers.

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.

I have been bitten too many times to count. Choked with a telephone cord, punched in the face, chest and stomache, pinched about a bazillion times and slapped a handfull or others.

I read once that Nursing is more dangerous than underground mining and heavy construction combined. (Mostly due to back injuries, slips/falls, and communicable disease)

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"Is a knuckle sandwhich within their diet orders?"

Most of our incidents (inpatient gen med/tele/onc) are from confused pts being combative. either hitting, sometimes kicking, or pinching/scratching.

However, grapevine told me that our facility was on lockdown this AM for a visitor with a gun or threatening violence with a gun after their family member was extubated/taken off the vent.

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I am not surprised in the least.

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
I have been bitten too many times to count. Choked with a telephone cord, punched in the face, chest and stomache, pinched about a bazillion times and slapped a handfull or others.

OMG What kind of floor do you work on? A prison?

Now when I worked in psych, of course I saw things that were wild. That hot cup of coffee thrown in a nurse's face got my attention.

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My feeling is that our society has become more violent in general. Plus the fact that there isnot the respect there used to be for nurses, teachers,etc. When I worked in a small town ER 7 years ago I had to take out a restraining order on a family member of a patient who was being very threatening and disruptive after being asked to leave the ER due to his behavior.(He was also intoxicated and well known to the police dept and ended up getting arrested after the police were called and he led them on a wild goose chase while drunk)

I think that not knowing whether someone is carrying a weapon, especially in a place like this where there is no on site security, is hard considering that people come to the ER in various states of alcolhol/drug use,psychosis,etc.

I am glad not to be working there for that reason. Just hoping the police will get there in time is scary, especially if it is in the middle of the night.

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Specializes in ER; Primary Care.

The only type of violence I have seen has come from pts with AMS. The worst I have seen from pts A&Ox3 is just general nasty behavior... yelling, cursing, insulting staff etc.

There was one time that we had a new admit come in, with some sort of AMS... He was put in a room with another pt. He started telling the other pt to "get out of his room" and things like that. I just talked with him and explained how this was his room mate etc. etc... I find out the next day that the guy had gone over and punched his room mate in the face during the night while he was sleeping! I felt horrible that I hadn't put him in a different room. I also found out the next day that this new admit had a history... he had murdered two people in the past, one by smothering with a pillow! But of course they took this history out of his chart before I ever got it... they dont want things like that to affect the level of care that patients receive. But I think that if I had known that he had this sort of history, I would have moved him out of that room at the first sign of something, you know?

Sorry, I guess that was a little off topic!!

Liz

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Specializes in VA-BC, CRNI.
OMG What kind of floor do you work on? A prison?

Now when I worked in psych, of course I saw things that were wild. That hot cup of coffee thrown in a nurse's face got my attention.

Tele, LTC, Infusion

When I was choked out it was by a 6' 210lb retired Marine with dementia lol. Before he choked me out he actually kicked me in the face when we attempted to restrain him. Got me pretty good, thought he broke my nose. Kept saying, "YOU DIRTY JAP! I'M GONNA *'* KILL YOU! I KILLED YOUR KIND BEFORE AND I'LL KILL YA AGAIN!" Those cotton soft restraints just don't cut it anymore...

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