Hi all. My wife, and her three sisters, have been nurses for over three decades, each. I have heard all of the horror stories of overweight patients, the irate patient that thinks his/her needs are greater than the person getting coded, etc. That still did not prepare me for the reality of the 2:30AM call from my wife's supervisor in the Emergency Department that my wife had had her finger bitten off by a patient. The forum entry from 2003 about a similar incident led me here from "google", however, that forum thread had comments dated for over a year past the initial entry, but no conclusion or follow up. Now I know why.
The loss involved about a half inch of one of her fingers, which is still tender and is painful with almost any contact. The "patient" was indicted on second degree assault upon medical personnel, which is punishable with up to 10 years incarceration. The patient posted bail immediately and the indictment was a number of months ago. Since then there have been monthly hearings, but it has been almost a year and he is still a "free man". I surely hope he will be convicted and harshly sentenced, but the concept of closure is far far away. Workers Compensation Insurance has to be sued to get anything other than immediate medical bills and the pittance of compensation while out of work. You would think that the permanent loss of a part of one's anatomy would obviously be a (partial) permanent disability and they would at least make an offer before going to court, but that is not the way it is done. A civil case may follow, but it is likely to cost more than it's worth. I do not expect "closure" anytime soon, but I'll let you know the outcome as it unfolds. In the meanwhile, the hospital is starting to recognize that the customer (patient) is not always right and they are more regularly calling in the law and charging the spitters, yellers and other assaulting folk as they should have been doing all along. Having worked at a couple of large corporations, I can testify that such behavior would never be tolerated and even mild innuendo can cause a major multimillion dollar lawsuit. How have hospitals been getting away with allowing a "hostile work environment" for so long? Why has OSHA been looking the other way for them?
