My pt. punched her SO...

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Last weekend I took care of a pt. who had had her 2nd baby. Her and her SO were a little different but pleasant to me. When I woke her at midnt. to do her vitals, she got real snippy with her SO, telling him to take her baby, and don't squish her boob...he ended up squishing her boob so she punched him in the face. Not like a tap, like a full on punch. I didnt say a word, just kind of looked at him in my peripheral vision. He had no reaction other than to say she was cranky. I got the feeling more might have happened if I hadnt been standing there.

I documented it real well, but what do you guys do in this situation??

Specializes in ICU.
Wow. Me neither. Sorry. It must have been late at night. :stone

No worries, I just had to read it a few times and then it hit me:lol2:. Believe me, at times my brain is definitely slacking too:yeah:.

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I couldn't help but think about the future of the baby too. I certainly hope this mom is able to get her emotions in check before she harms the child.

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

It is assault. I would have told her so and reminded her that charges could be brought in such cases. And I would strongly advise social services consult be considered if this person really seems violent in your opinion. It would take observation on your part as her nurse to know what to do in this case.

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It is assault. I would have told her so and reminded her that charges could be brought in such cases. And I would strongly advise social services consult be considered if this person really seems violent in your opinion. It would take observation on your part as her nurse to know what to do in this case.

It's actually assault and battery... the assault part is the threat to punch him and the battery comes in when she actually did it. I too would have approached the situation head on and reminded this mom where she is and made sure that the father was ok, and also asked ss to have a talk with them both. From the way the father acted when she punched him it doesn't sound like their situation would change because he just brushed it off. Also remember that we don't really know our patients as well as their family so she may have in fact just been suffering from pp hormones. Anyway it goes it's worth confronting the situation, at the very least letting the mom know she was inappropriate in any setting (yes, even if she did just give birth-it's not a do whatever you want with no consequences card)

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Last weekend I took care of a pt. who had had her 2nd baby. Her and her SO were a little different but pleasant to me. When I woke her at midnt. to do her vitals, she got real snippy with her SO, telling him to take her baby, and don't squish her boob...he ended up squishing her boob so she punched him in the face. Not like a tap, like a full on punch. I didnt say a word, just kind of looked at him in my peripheral vision. He had no reaction other than to say she was cranky. I got the feeling more might have happened if I hadnt been standing there.

I documented it real well, but what do you guys do in this situation??

I guess I am going to be the dissenter here. Yeah her reaction may have been a little overboard, but you are only hearing what the nurse saw at that time, not what may have actually happened. Knowing how super sensitive she may have been feeling, especially in the breast area, and then after telling her SO to be careful but him doing it anyway...well she reacted. You don't know their history.

Was it right...no, one should always try not to react with hitting, but instead of wanting to lynch the mom, I would try to be more sensitive to the reasons for this.

my:twocents:

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Specializes in PEDS/NSY/L&D/med-surg.

I had a similar situ during a pt admission. He tripped over her IV pole, and she was beating the crap out of him when I walked in. I put a stop to it quickly. I told her & him that "this behavior is never appropriate, if it continues, he'll be asked to leave and won't be present for the birth."

Ends up we deliver and at some point (prior to admission, baby looked good on the strip) she had a hidden ptl. abruption, baby was bad, lots of blood loss. I documented my rear off. Who knows what had been going on at home prior to admission that contributed to the bad outcome.

Abuse is abuse whether it's male or female, hormones don't excuse it.

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:nono: if the shoe was on the other foot and HE had warned HER, then punched her, would that have been OK??

I agree with a previous poster, abuse is abuse no matter who throws the punch.

I know a woman who is going through a very nasty divorce with three kids (I'm pretty sure they never really liked each other outside the bedroom) and one day, STBX came by to pick the kids up for a visit and they got into an argument, and she punched him in the face and bloodied his nose in front of the children.

:eek:

I am probably the only person who heard about it who didn't think it was :yeah: or :rotfl: or :lol_hitti or :urck:

Even his family, who have totally sided with him through all of this, thinks it was justified. What can I say?

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