Holding Patients and Visitors Accountable For Their Actions

[mackjazz]

We were all trained on how to recognize anxious behavior that may lead to violence, and 'deescalate' the 'crisis'. For example, lets say that a man(free of mental illness) that has a painful toe begins shouting about the wait time and throws a chair against the wall cracking a picture frame. The nurse was then able to calm him down. The man gained control of himself and become very very very sorry for his behavior, and the nurse said 'ohhhh, thats ok.'

We all then discussed that maybe he doesn't like hospitals, he had a bad day, maybe he lost his job, maybe someone stole his parking spot, maybe he has to be somewhere important, maybe hes getting a divorce, maybe its the economy, maybe he was abused as a child, and maybe we should all be sensitive to whatever the patient is going through.... The whole time I was thinking MAYBE he should have controlled himself in the first place, MAYBE he should have been arrested for destruction of property and risking the safety of the nurse and others in the waiting room, and MAYBE he should be accountable for his actions.

I spoke up and expressed my opinion which pissed off some and amused others. A social worker had the exact opposite opinion stating "Sometimes people have difficulty controlling themselves when they have a crisis, sometimes we don't know what they are going through."

So, whoever said that is is OK to mistreat/abuse others when they are going through a hard time?

I replied that I am completely empathetic to those that have a crisis/bad day/whatever their problem, but that does not excuse abusive behavior.

This social worker went on and on defending her opinion in various ways while others simply laughed at my opinion. They said "Yeah, wouldn't that be nice if everyone was accountable for they're actions, hahahaha"

I couldn't believe it!

Of course everyone needed to be accountable for their actions, I don't care what anyone's excuse is, because it does not matter!

You cant tell a cop "I know I'm drunk driving and a safety hazard to everyone on the road, but I lost my job and got in an argument with my son earlier today."

Your still going to jail, right?

Same consequences should occur in a hospital as well....

"Sir, I'm sorry you lost your job and got in an argument with your son, but that is beside the point. You are NOT ever aloud to throw chairs or yell/threaten anyone for ANY reason.

And now you are sorry?

That's great but you will still have to pay the consequences!"

Healthcare workers are told to leave their problems at the door, to take a walk or talk to someone if they are having a difficult time.

Why aren't these standards held on everyone?

I plan to hold each and every person accountable for their actions. We need to change our culture to this thought, especially in hospitals. This, I believe, is the best prevention.

(my opinion does not apply to anyone with a physiological/psychological illness)

[Persephone001]

This irked me and I just haaad to say something...Did you ever stop to think that the people who come into "your ER" with runny noses or various non-emergency illnesses may be embarrassed to be there and embarrassed that they have no other choice? Not everyone has health insurance and not everyone is covered under medicare/medicaid and in that case can't afford to go to the doctor? Have YOU ever called a doctor's office and asked them how much an EXAM is without INSURANCE? When I lost my job my child was covered under medicare but I was not. I have horrible allergies and couldn't even affored over the counter allergy pills. My allergies flaired up which led to a sinus infection which then led to the start of pneumonia and I finally broke down and went to the ER and ended up with a $2000 bill due to a doc practicing "defensive" medicine and had to borrow $80 from my dad (who I was mortified to borrow from because he barely scrapes by as it is after he was laid off) so I could get the antibiotics. My nurse was rude and kept giving me looks as if I didn't realize that I was in an EMERGENCY ROOM and that there was an old man on the other side of my curtain who sounded like HE was ACTUALLY dying from pneumonia. I was embarrassed to be taking up an ER bed but everyday I was counting change to get gas to look for a job. I still do not have health insurance but was gratefull to find a doctors office that will see patients without insurance but the clinic is dirty, it's always over crowded with people so smelly you can taste them from across the room and the average wait no matter what you are there for is 2 hours. I had to wait 2 hrs and 20 min to get a TB test for school. Your a nurse and its not your job or anyone elses job for that matter, to judge people, its to help people no matter what their income, race, sex, personality, hair color, favorite lipstick color whatever. So next time you or anyone else has an opinion about someone else, take a second to take a stop outside of your little world and take a peek into someone elses, you may be surprised that there is more going on there than what meets the eye. Whenever I catch myself judging someone (try it yourself sometime, you'd be amazed by how often in a day we make judgements about someone) I literally say to myself "who the heck AM I to be judging someone, what makes me SOOO MUCH better?"

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

this irked me and i just haaad to say something...did you ever stop to think that the people who come into "your er" with runny noses or various non-emergency illnesses may be embarrassed to be there and embarrassed that they have no other choice? not everyone has health insurance and not everyone is covered under medicare/medicaid and in that case can't afford to go to the doctor? have you ever called a doctor's office and asked them how much an exam is without insurance? when i lost my job my child was covered under medicare but i was not. i have horrible allergies and couldn't even affored over the counter allergy pills. my allergies flaired up which led to a sinus infection which then led to the start of pneumonia and i finally broke down and went to the er and ended up with a $2000 bill due to a doc practicing "defensive" medicine and had to borrow $80 from my dad (who i was mortified to borrow from because he barely scrapes by as it is after he was laid off) so i could get the antibiotics. my nurse was rude and kept giving me looks as if i didn't realize that i was in an emergency room and that there was an old man on the other side of my curtain who sounded like he was actually dying from pneumonia. i was embarrassed to be taking up an er bed but everyday i was counting change to get gas to look for a job. i still do not have health insurance but was gratefull to find a doctors office that will see patients without insurance but the clinic is dirty, it's always over crowded with people so smelly you can taste them from across the room and the average wait no matter what you are there for is 2 hours. i had to wait 2 hrs and 20 min to get a tb test for school. your a nurse and its not your job or anyone elses job for that matter, to judge people, its to help people no matter what their income, race, sex, personality, hair color, favorite lipstick color whatever. so next time you or anyone else has an opinion about someone else, take a second to take a stop outside of your little world and take a peek into someone elses, you may be surprised that there is more going on there than what meets the eye. whenever i catch myself judging someone (try it yourself sometime, you'd be amazed by how often in a day we make judgements about someone) i literally say to myself "who the heck am i to be judging someone, what makes me sooo much better?"

i'm sorry you lost your job and your insurance, but perhaps a "doc in a box" (urgent care center) would have been a better (and more cost-effective) choice than an er. that said, i wonder what makes you so much better than the er nurses you're scolding (and judging)?

[Persephone001]

I am not judging anyone (and I work everyday to make sure I defy that part of my human nature and believe me it's not easy!) and I never "scold" anyone unless they happen to be one of my children. I am reminding her, nurse or no nurse and reminding everyone, nurse or not, that there is often more to a situation than what people see on the surface. They take a glance at a situation and start automatically running off at the mouth with what "they think". I really get tired of all the oral garbage people vomit on me on a daily basis. I have gotten so sick of it that I will actually just walk away in the middle of their sentence. Sometimes I wish people would just shut their mouths and OPEN THEIR EYES and their hearts and the world would be a better place. "Meditate. Live Purely. Be Quiet." -Buddha

And by the way, I called several doctors in the phone book and the only urgent care in my area, and the Urgent Care, as anyone would have guessed since they perform emergency type walk-in services, they cost twice as what a doctors office does and do not make any special considerations for people without insurance. Even the new Walgreen walk-in low cost clinic would have cost $80 for just an exam. If a person could walk-in to a doctors office with no insurance and get their treatment and medication affordably, do you really think they would be wasting hours in the ER which costs even more?

[huffsimp]

Wow, good for you

I think this is the reason why nursing is not looked at as a profession. We sit and pacify everyone especially when they are having outbursts such as these. We spend so much time trying to appease people since health care has now evolved into consumerism and we need to keep the $ coming in so we "keep them happy" at all costs

[midazoalm1953]

remember it is a class D feleony in NYS to abuse a nurse, call the police and file a complaint...and ther is no excuse for ETOH, mental illness or dementia...it has to be stopped!