Has anyone mistaken you for a punching bag at work?

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Yesterday, I was sitting with the charge nurse at the nurse's station, & a patient's family member came marching angrily toward us. "I have something for you; here!", she said irritably & loudly. She then shoved a tiny spider she'd caught in the patient's room in my charge nurse's face. She went on to tell us she was sure there were more spiders, & we needed to do something about it immediately. I watched my charge nurse put the spider in a bag & calmly tell her we would call staff to address it.

Here's what I wanted to say, even though I remained silent: "Ma'am, nurses are not your punching bag. We are not responsible for pest control or housekeeping because we are busy preserving the life & health of your loved one. If you want to be angry about a tiny, little spider, take your anger out on mother nature instead."

Do you ever feel like you are a punching bag to people as a nurse? Can you share a funny/weird/irritating event that happened to you at work in dealing with rude people? It'll be fun.

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Specializes in Snf.

Yes I'm a new grad nurse I'm currently the charge nurse and everyone comes to me with all the problems I just started! I get yelled at for no reason smh

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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Specializes in Med Surg.

A resident's irate wife accusingly held up a spider in my face when I was a CNA at a nursing home. I turned to the resident and said, "Bob! You know you cannot have pets here!"

Bob thought it was hilarious as he considered his wife a bigger pain in the backside than we did.

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Specializes in hospice.

Do you understand what a punching bag is?

I regularly get mistaken for a punching bag, as in, I am hit, punched, smacked, grabbed, and pinched by confused patients who get fearful.

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Do you understand what a punching bag is?

I regularly get mistaken for a punching bag, as in, I am hit, punched, smacked, grabbed, and pinched by confused patients who get fearful.

I meant it as a metaphor, but we can be literal too. I can say that I have been pushed by a patient I was trying to suction. It sounds like you get it far more often though!

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

No I am not anyone's punching bag. Anytime a patient or family gets disrespectful toward me or any of my technicians, I let them know pretty quickly that won't work. I keep calm and professional, no matter what. But I have actually refused to start dialysis treatments and abusive patients---- One case comes to mind. I had a very angry patient yelling at me and shaking his fist. So I invited him to leave the unit and told him I would call upon the police to assist in his removal, if he did not cooperate. Fortunately, my manager backs me on this. That patient has been civil and polite ever since, even nice, most of the time.

Removing them is not only for my sake, but a safety and security issue. The other patients can see and hear everything going on and it gratifies them that abusive patients are shown the door and just as importantly, gives them the idea that i am no-nonsense and won't tolerate being anyone's "punching bag" ever.

Dialysis lends itself well to disallowing patients to make punching bags out of technicians or nurses---or other patients. Once had one patient call another an a-h*** and the f-word in front of other patients and family members. I told him if he did it again, I would ask him to leave the premises. He got the message. EVERYONE witnesses what's going on and there is plenty of backup to my decision to disallow maltreatment from abusive patients.

That said, our world has gone completely un-civil. I would NEVER behave the way some of these patients and family members do towards ANYONE, let alone those taking care of me!

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I regularly get mistaken for a punching bag, as in, I am hit, punched, smacked, grabbed, and pinched by confused patients who get fearful.

Regularly?

Why stick around in that environment?

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Specializes in hospice.

I work hospice. It's different patients every time and we do our best to be gentle and appropriate with them, but sometimes you have to turn and clean them no matter how fearful they are. The nurses medicate well for pain and anxiety (I'm a CNA) and we try lots of interventions and distractions to try to keep them occupied and calm.

I don't sustain any damage 99% of the time, and when I do it's minor things like pinch injuries.

By regularly I don't mean constantly, just that it happens on a continuing basis every week or two.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think we need to differentiate between patients who are AWARE of what they are doing, and others who are either too sick or have dementia and do not.

Not that being a punching bag is acceptable in any case, but I can more forgive those who know not what they do, over others who know damn well what they are doing, are manipulative and mean.

I wanted to make that point clear.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Regularly?

Why stick around in that environment?

YES, right on. I would not stick around if being a "punching bag" was seen as part of my job description by management. I have only one body and I am not sacrificing my health, life and limb to patients who simply are mean and want to make a "punching bag" out of me.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

There was a time when nurses had some respect from the patients; a time when no one in their right mind would consider threatening or harming a nurse. Nowadays, it seems to be the norm and expected that we take abuse from our patients in the name of making the "customers" "delighted" with their "service". The Emergency departments come to mind. That it is normal or expected that nurses will get hit with IV poles, punched, kicked or otherwise physically harmed, is insane!

It's crap, pure and simple. It's become insanity in a world where people will trample each other to death the day after giving thanks for what they have-----all to get the sale price at Walmart for a flatscreen TV or crock pot. Incivility is the new "normal" in our world today. I occurs to me, we should not even be having this discussion, at all.

But I do know, if anyone physically harms me irreparably, damaging my body permanently, or ending my career, I will not hesitate to bring the police and law into it, and seek legal compensation and action from my employers and the "customer", if it's bad enough. The hospitals/clinics have a responsibility in keeping staff reasonably safe and acting on cases when they are injured.

Another point we need to make clear: NO ONE is "mistaking" anyone for being a punching bag. It's deliberate and should not be tolerated for any reason.

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I don't sustain any damage 99% of the time

Good thing! When most people are hit, punched, and smacked they DO sustain damage! You never know about those feisty hospice patients. Methinks that was an exaggeration.

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