I feel so, so stupid right now. The optimist in me said this entire time that I can handle an occasional bout of violence from a patient. But how would I even know that if I've never been assaulted in any way in my entire life? I am really upset at the thought that my first experience being assaulted will be in my chosen career. That's because I can't blame anyone else but myself. "I signed up for it". Like, duh, I should know that this is a common issue.
But I ignored it and thought maybe I could get by without experiencing it somehow. I tried my best up until now to no put too much thought into it so I could continue onward. Then, yesterday, I saw this video:
She basically says that, as a bedside nurse, she got assaulted EVERY DAY. She even got feces thrown in her face and got cellulitis on her optic ***ing NERVE. WHAT THE ***.
I want to help people and I love health science, pathophysiology, and teaching. However, I am realizing that I could have helped people in many other ways without risking being traumatized repeatedly and potentially permanently injured until I retire. It's these things that we don't talk about in nursing school. I still, can only blame myself. I thought I put enough introspection into this before deciding to go into nursing. Now I'm on my 5th quarter and I can't believe I'm even at this point.
Is there anyone who has encouragement for me? Is there any hope?
Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.
11 hours ago, Arafelle said:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I needed to see that this experience in the video isn't universal. You did that for me.
I am very glad I was able to help put your mind at ease. This field isn't always easy, patients (and families!) will sometimes say mean things, sometimes there is chaos, and occasionally threat of physical violence (though in my experience it more often stays at level of verbal threat - but in my world we take even verbal threats very seriously), and exposure to some absolutely heart-breaking stories and past trauma. I agree with Here.I.Stand -- assault is assault - workplace violence or not, and my workplace can and does report assaults - be they against other patients or against staff - to the police. Even when a reported assault was unwitnessed by staff (and potentially questionable to have occurred due to unreliability of patient) we will start an investigation because our patients deserve this, and our staff deserve this.
I do think that online forums can skew towards the negative (including this one) because people are more often going to "vent" online than to post their major successes online. Perhaps because of the anonymity (real or perceived) online forums offer. There are also a number of RNs, who, for whatever reason, have become extremely unhappy with this field and who will actively try to discourage new RNs from joining.
Nursing is not a perfect job or a perfect field. There ARE negatives involved with this career path, but I would argue that is the case for ANY career path or job. It's about finding the pros/cons that you personally can live with - and with in nursing there is still room to move around - different specialties and different facilities have their own pros/cons as well.
I see you are considering counseling for anxiety in another post - I do recommend this not only for you but for anyone considering a major life change (of which starting a new career is one!). I personally struggled with severe anxiety in my past and have intermittently seen a counselor (and been on medication) -- it was a big help both prior to nursing school, and during nursing school, to have some one to process the experience with and to work on my own self-knowledge and self-growth. I will also say that nursing school seems to be a HIGHLY anxiety provoking time for many, and several of my peers who did not have anxiety issues before nursing school developed severe anxiety while in nursing school. Ultimately I am far less anxious now (working in a setting that many people seem terrified of) than I have been at any point earlier on in my life.
I don’t think the nicu babies will assault you.....
They try, they're just not very good at it. 4-year-olds, on the other hand, will kick the absolute crap out of you if you have to hold them down for shots or IV sticks.
In all seriousness, when people say that they're assaulted on a daily basis, I wonder if they're referring in part to verbal assault and patients being rude or demanding. Honestly, some patients and families can be jerks, but that doesn't necessarily amount to verbal assault. It burns some people out over time, but others just start to ignore it.
I think that a lot of it has to do with how good your unit and facility are about setting boundaries and enforcing behavioral contracts. If facilities allow patients to act out without backing up their nurses, patients will act out more often.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
I worked psych and corrections for the first half of my career. The worst that ever happened to me was elderly confused people striking out.
I have my suspicians about the woman in the video talking about being assaulted on a daily basis and keeping a big smile on her face. Some people love to sensationalize themselves.
They try, they're just not very good at it. 4-year-olds, on the other hand, will kick the absolute crap out of you if you have to hold them down for shots or IV sticks.
In all seriousness, when people say that they're assaulted on a daily basis, I wonder if they're referring in part to verbal assault and patients being rude or demanding. Honestly, some patients and families can be jerks, but that doesn't necessarily amount to verbal assault. It burns some people out over time, but others just start to ignore it.
I think that a lot of it has to do with how good your unit and facility are about setting boundaries and enforcing behavioral contracts. If facilities allow patients to act out without backing up their nurses, patients will act out more often.
Haha, yeah. That would make sense. Verbal assault to me is not really assault. I worked in call centers and support jobs for years and had the worst things said to me. Those things you just have to brush off and not take it personally. ?
I've worked in 16 ERs over the last decade and I've never been specifically assaulted. I've been involved in restraining people where things were out of control but never have really taken a specific hit. Never been in direct contact with bodily fluids.
I definitely have anxiety about it happening and try to be aware. One of those things. If it's your time it's your time. Lately it bothers me more than it used to.
If I was getting assaulted regularly I would not be working there.
I've worked in 16 ERs over the last decade and I've never been specifically assaulted. I've been involved in restraining people where things were out of control but never have really taken a specific hit. Never been in direct contact with bodily fluids.
I definitely have anxiety about it happening and try to be aware. One of those things. If it's your time it's your time. Lately it bothers me more than it used to.
If I was getting assaulted regularly I would not be working there.
I feel for you. I am looking at a career change. Nurse since 2014 and have worked in pediatric medical foster care, cardiac intensive care, pacu, and cath lab. All = regular risk physically, emotional turmoil, and back breaking work ... how is it worth it? I don't feel like it isn't anymore. There are many nurses who will tell you to tough it out & you can't make it. Dude, I argue back that they aren't tough enough to decide for themselves that they deserve better. Chronic back pain/slipped disks/sciatica/ptsd/seriously - WOW!!???. No wonder there is a nursing shortage (esp a shortage in experienced nurses). They use you and abuse you and I hate that some nurses wear it like a badge of honor. It's awful. Knowing its a broken healthcare system makes it worse. I often feel bad for the new grads - the brand new nurses, who are emotionally tormented by their peers and are are coming into a field that does not care for them properly. Current nurse career: expect to deal with being stretched thin of emotional, physical, spiritual, psychological well being. Oh, and there's terrible, often, regular peer bullying FYI. Can find many stories on that on this site as well as Google.
I worked for 4 years in a step down setting and 7+ years in the ICU. Never been physically assaulted. There have been confrontational moments, but things never came to an actual assault. It happens, but it doesn't necessarily happen every day to every nurse--not by a long stretch. You certainly have to be on guard.
I worked psych and corrections for the first half of my career. The worst that ever happened to me was elderly confused people striking out.
I have my suspicians about the woman in the video talking about being assaulted on a daily basis and keeping a big smile on her face. Some people love to sensationalize themselves.
True! However, not to be negative but assaults occur regularly in the psych hospital I work in. With experience and maturity, you do learn to spot those situations POTENTIALLY violent before they get to that point using de-escalation techniques and utilizing support from other staff when needed. Having said that, in all honesty there are those occasions when you don’t see it coming.
Keep in mind I’m talking about an acute psych hospital with unstable, mentally ill patients who are often paranoid and angry they are there.
All the years I worked in other specialties, I never had an assault occur. As others have said, yes there are those mean people in the world who give you strife. But that’s part of all life.
Hang in there and give this more time before you worry about something that may never occur for you!
verene, MSN
1,793 Posts
I am very glad I was able to help put your mind at ease. This field isn't always easy, patients (and families!) will sometimes say mean things, sometimes there is chaos, and occasionally threat of physical violence (though in my experience it more often stays at level of verbal threat - but in my world we take even verbal threats very seriously), and exposure to some absolutely heart-breaking stories and past trauma. I agree with Here.I.Stand -- assault is assault - workplace violence or not, and my workplace can and does report assaults - be they against other patients or against staff - to the police. Even when a reported assault was unwitnessed by staff (and potentially questionable to have occurred due to unreliability of patient) we will start an investigation because our patients deserve this, and our staff deserve this.
I do think that online forums can skew towards the negative (including this one) because people are more often going to "vent" online than to post their major successes online. Perhaps because of the anonymity (real or perceived) online forums offer. There are also a number of RNs, who, for whatever reason, have become extremely unhappy with this field and who will actively try to discourage new RNs from joining.
Nursing is not a perfect job or a perfect field. There ARE negatives involved with this career path, but I would argue that is the case for ANY career path or job. It's about finding the pros/cons that you personally can live with - and with in nursing there is still room to move around - different specialties and different facilities have their own pros/cons as well.
I see you are considering counseling for anxiety in another post - I do recommend this not only for you but for anyone considering a major life change (of which starting a new career is one!). I personally struggled with severe anxiety in my past and have intermittently seen a counselor (and been on medication) -- it was a big help both prior to nursing school, and during nursing school, to have some one to process the experience with and to work on my own self-knowledge and self-growth. I will also say that nursing school seems to be a HIGHLY anxiety provoking time for many, and several of my peers who did not have anxiety issues before nursing school developed severe anxiety while in nursing school. Ultimately I am far less anxious now (working in a setting that many people seem terrified of) than I have been at any point earlier on in my life.