New nurse here...slapped today by patient.

[Bonny619]

So...I'm a new RN, still in orientation mode. I was starting an IV on a patient, my primary nurse was present as well as a student we had with us. The patient's husband was also present.

I started the IV, I was getting ready to place the tegaderm on and BAM.

She slapped me straight across the face...pretty hard too. No mark, but it stung. I just left the room immediately, that was my first instinct. My primary nurse was dealing with the patient.

Anyway, the patient was an older lady....77, but she was A/O x3. NOT a confused patient, she later said she thought we were just "playing with her" I'm assuming she thought this because the student was watching? I don't know. She knew we needed to start a new IV, her IV infiltrated.

So, my question is this....at what point does a nurse actually look at a situation as being assaulted. If this lady slapped me across the face in the middle of the grocery store, I would have called the police.

What is that fine line? What if she bruised my face? Is that different?

Any advice is appreciated.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

also, babies probably won't throw their poop at ya....

[Bonny619]

Update.

They "think" she may have been going into some sort of steroid psychosis. I guess later that night she was seeing stuff.

I was talking to my other patient in the same room and she said that she overheard the woman say something to her husband about feeling bad, but then the husband said, "You don't have to feel bad about ANYTHING"

He was a jerk.

Anyway, good to know I'm not alone. :)

[walk6miles]

First of all, A+Ox3 means just that. The conversation with her jerk husband proves she knew she was wrong.

File all the necessary paperwork - it's the only way the two idiots will ever learn to respect their caregivers.

I have been assaulted twice but both times the patients were not in their right minds and would not have learned from their mistake.

Believe me, if you were the one to assault the patient, the paperwork would have already been filed.

[miko014]

Update.

They "think" she may have been going into some sort of steroid psychosis. I guess later that night she was seeing stuff.

I was talking to my other patient in the same room and she said that she overheard the woman say something to her husband about feeling bad, but then the husband said, "You don't have to feel bad about ANYTHING"

He was a jerk.

Anyway, good to know I'm not alone. :)

IMHO, it's not just the actions of this one pt that are the problem. If you let one pt get away with this, doesn't that make it okay for others to do the same? I don't know what kinds of policies that most facilities have on this kind of situation. If it had been me, the first thing I would have done would be to call security and have them talk to the woman. It's probably too late for that in this particular situation, but please, if you haven't filled out an incident report (or whatever your facility calls them), please do. The "higher ups" most definitely need to be made aware of this!!!!!!!!

I read somewhere that the statistics for on the job assaults are WAY higer for healthcare workers than any other field. This is a good example of this, and everyone needs to know that it's not okay!!!!! It looks like I'm not the only one behind you on this one!

[Batman24]

I would still fill out an incident report even if you don't want to press charges. It would be smart to have it on file. Do it ASAP.

[Bonny619]

Oh that was totally done!

I would still fill out an incident report even if you don't want to press charges. It would be smart to have it on file. Do it ASAP.

[anotherneonurse]

Absolutely you should press charges. I feel bad for you that your preceptor didn't guide you accordingly. If I saw this happen to an orientee I would stick up for them and the only thing I would explain to the patient is that they would be talking to the police shortly.

It is because of things like what the poster above said that we even start to question these things. We are trained to take abuse in nursing school. They do a far better job of training us to be abused than they do to train us to be competent, caring or skilled. If fact, it seems to be the focus of most nursing schools. There is no reason you should tolerate any amount of abuse in any area of nursing.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

Thank god, most of my patients have been given meds by anesthesia already so even if they swing at you, their aim is off! I've been slapped on the hand twice..the first time was an old man with dementia and the second was a little old lady who was also confused and swearing at me in Italian. Also, in Pacu and in the OR, the restraint rules aren't as strict.

OP, I think you should pursue this..if that woman was A&O x3 then there is no excuse for what she did. Sorry that this happened to you.

[november17, ASN, RN]

I had an alzheimers pt that busted one of my CNAs in the jaw a few months ago. I felt bad for her. It didn't really hurt her physically very badly but I think it did a number on her emotionally. I told her that it was okay if she avoided that room for the rest of the night. She filled out an incident report; he ended up in 4 point restraints with Haldol IM every few hours- everytime he started looking at me funny (I've had a lot of experience with alzheimers pts and I know "that look" very well). I explained to the family what had happened and why he was in restraints and they understood...thankfully his daughter volunteered to stay the night with him the next night (familiar faces help a LOT).

Just the other night something similar happened to a coworker of mine. It ended up taking 5 of us to hold that pt down to put her in restraints. It was pretty sad...the (80+ y/o) patient was yelling, "Mama! Mama! I want my mama!!!!" and crying throughout the whole thing. I actually got bit in the hand several times by the pt while trying to get the soft wrist restraints on (not hard enough to break the surface of the latex glove though). My coworker was in tears afterward she felt so bad about it.

I've been kicked, slapped, punched, bit, and all kinds of things when I worked LTC, so I feel your pain. Sometimes it is hard to accept when you feel like you're doing everything right. I remember an alzheimers pt grabbing a badge lanyard that my coworker had around her neck. The alzheimer's pt tried to strangle her with it...I'm a fairly strong male and I was barely able to stop this little old lady from choking my coworker out. My coworker was really upset about it - mainly because she got choked, but partly because she had (up till then) felt like she had a good rapport with this particular patient. It just goes to show you how unpredictable confused people can be when stressed. I compare it to a cornered rat...they just lash out...over the dumbest stuff sometimes, like putting a shirt on or something like that (if they feel threatened for whatever reason).

I'm just glad I work in the hospital now and I have the tools to deal with this stuff properly (like, responsive physicians and equipment and meds easily available). I'd certainly press charges if I was in your shoes. Maybe they wouldn't stick through an actual prosecution, but the message would be sent that patients should not behave in that manner. Ridiculous.

[Fiona59]

We are only allowed to wear Lanyards that have quick release snaps on them for the very reason you mentioned.

I found out yesterday that if we are verbally abused we are supposed to file an incident report. Ours are computerized and not the least user friendly. I'd never have time to get through a shift if we did all the incident reports we should.

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

OP, battery is battery, and it's against the law.

Please tell us that you've filed charges against this person. If nothing else, it will get the attention of the batterer and the idiot she's married to.

[vivibonita]

a "victim" of what?

I'm sorry mulan, but in the society that we live now, it is very possible that the patient's legal team would fight that she was in bed, defenseless, etc, etc, and come up with a series of lies. We know the story and we believe the OP on what she said. Before our eyes this patient is not a victim (especially with the update) but the OP has to make sure all her bases are covered. In no way I'm saying or implying that she shouldn't file a claim, or that we as nurses should brush it off and move on. I think the post by greensister proves what I'm trying to say.