Have you ever been abused at work by pt or med staff?

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No, I don't have any such issues going on right now but in reading through threads the last few days I see issues that I would refer to as abusive in one manner or another towards nurses. As a young new grad I put up with a great deal, today as I wrote in another thread I have done my time, I have paid my dues, I will not be abused as a nurse. Those days are long gone.

I have been screamed at by patients and doctors, had turds tossed at me, I've been thrown up against a glass door/concussion (psych patient), had my hand bent backwards until my knuckle broke (Psych patient thought I was playing with his brain), I was lifted by my throat and held against the wall, my feeties were not touching the floor (ED psych patient, police officers standing in the hallway saved my butt), been chased around the ED by a firefighter and when I told him I *really* was not interested he ran around telling everyone I was a lesbian, threatened with termination of my job if I did not agree to work a 3rd 12 hour shift... in a row!

It is interesting to see just how much a nurse will put up with in comparison to how many years s/he has been a nurse. I am also interested to see the differences in male vs. female nursing examples.

What are your experiences?

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Specializes in Ped ED, PICU, PEDS, M/S. SD.

In the ED had a manager make inappropriate comments like Your Bicillian for your STD is here, yelling across the unit. Had paramedics pull up nasty pics on the computer of a naked man with a tree coming out of his butt. The screen was facing the patient rooms and can be seen walking in hallway. This was at a pediatric hospital in the ED, kids every where could see it. I was told I was a prude for insisting it come down.

I can go on.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

That firefighter needs to be reported to his superiors for sexual harassment.

I've never worked in psych myself, but in my world if a pt physically assaults staff they get put in 4-point restraints. They don't pay us nearly enough to justify putting ourselves in harm's way.

Abusive behaviors from physicians need to 1) be addressed head-on by saying, "I will continue this conversation when you choose to act like an adult," and 2) need to be addressed with HR as contributing to a hostile work environment. Those exact words, hostile work environment, need to be clearly articulated.

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Who threw the turds at you? I hope it was a psych or demented patient. Maybe you should carry a baseball mitt so the next time you can catch it and throw it right back at them.

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Specializes in Hospice.

I had my thumb broke by a pt who was detoxing, the dayshift nurse had withheld the Ativan!

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I know a nurse who was stabbed in the eyeball by a pen.

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Specializes in pediatric, PICU.

Wow! These are very disturbing stories. At this point, I don't even allow patients and their visitors to so much as curse while I'm in the room lol. I'm quick to call security for anything because people think they can do whatever they want to nurses. I've also never been yelled at by a doctor. I'm sure it's my "I wish you would"/resting b!tc# face and tone that I take with them or anyone that comes at me crazy, but they've never tried it.

The worst I can think of was a former prisoner on the pedi unit throwing coffee across the room because he couldn't get his q2 dilaudid due to his bp being in the 70's.

Nurses need to stop allowing the abuse to happen.

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Specializes in ICU.

I haven't been seriously injured yet. I had a coworker bend down near a psych patient to flush his line and he grabbed her by the head and fractured several of the vertebrae in her neck. She is very lucky she is not paralyzed today. Missed a heck of a lot of work, though.

She made me re-think getting disability insurances... I have both short term and long term disability insurance now. It just takes one crazy patient to turn you into a quad.

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Who threw the turds at you? I hope it was a psych or demented patient. Maybe you should carry a baseball mitt so the next time you can catch it and throw it right back at them.

A very old and demented man. If he wasn't trying to eat them he was flinging them at us. I still remember being a new grad and walking into his room with pooh slobber running down his face. That was the first time I ever met him.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Onc.

Confused patients have called me names, it doesn't really bother me.

I did have one try and pull my hair and he also threw a (plastic) fork at me.

I'm glad that my facility usually has good response for additional support and/or medications for those patients.

I've had other make threats but since they are confused it doesn't bother me either.

We see a lot of altered mental status so most of us are used to letting things roll off our back. Words don't hurt so I'll take those over anything else.

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