A patient at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn viciously beat a 69-year-old nurse when she came to check on him Friday, leaving the woman with life-threatening injuries, officials said.
The patient, Kwincii Jones, 40, lunged at Evelyn Lynch as she approached his bedside at about 4:30 p.m. , police sources said.
Another nurse later investigated an intercom alert that was coming from Jones' room and found the suspect "stomping on Lynch's head," one police source said.
"He beat the crap out of her," the police source said. "He jumped out of bed and stomped on her. She was bleeding from the head."
Lynch was rushed to Kings County Hospital where she underwent brain surgery Friday night. She was listed in critical condition.
Jones had been admitted to the hospital on Linden Blvd. in East Flatbush on Wednesday after complaining of stomach pains, police sources said.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the attack.
That "old woman" = Evelyn Lynch. She had a name and deserves the respect of being called by it. She was obviously mentally sharp enough and physically capable of working at 70 years old and that impresses me. I'm 33 and I'm exhausted already. And I plan in doing this job as long as I can. I hope she recovers to have a good quality of life but loses the memory of this attack. She deserves our respect and well wishes. She is a colleague regardless of where we work and this is just a tragic story of the many potential things that can happen with every patient interaction. Scary.
So you're not familiar with the real stats behind my opinion are you? Actual numbers, not emotions and knee jerk assumptions based on nothing but fear and misinformation
Here's the thing, man... I agree with you regarding CCW but I also agree with all the posters stating that THIS THREAD is not the place for it.
If you want to promote ccw by hospital nurses (and as an urban level 1 trauma nurse, I'm all for it), put together a thread with solid data and let the chips fall where they may (pretty small minority here on AN in my experience).
The upshot for us: Be aware of changes in patient demeanor that indicate possible impending violence and if you feel even slightly threatened, back off and get reinforcements.
And this applies even if the patient desperately and urgently NEEDS help.
Rule number one from EMS on the streets: Make sure the scene is secure... until it is, standby...
Same applies to us in the hospital... if the patient or a family member is rendering the scene unsafe by my estimation, I'm not doing a damned thing until such time as it becomes secure... even if they're bleeding out, symptomatic arrhythmia, whatever... until it's safe for me to intervene, I'm on the sidelines.
My safety is a higher priority than that of the patient.
And this applies even if the patient desperately and urgently NEEDS help.
Rule number one from EMS on the streets: Make sure the scene is secure... until it is, standby...
Same applies to us in the hospital... if the patient or a family member is rendering the scene unsafe by my estimation, I'm not doing a damned thing until such time as it becomes secure... even if they're bleeding out, symptomatic arrhythmia, whatever... until it's safe for me to intervene, I'm on the sidelines.
My safety is a higher priority than that of the patient.
No scene is ever 100% secure. Even in a jail or prison. Always keep your level of awareness up, attuned to any hint of something going sideways. Your floor/unit/whatever may be one of the safest around and staff may never have a violent encounter with a patient or their visitors. You still owe it to yourself to get trained and maintain your level of training. And always be ready to deal violence yourself, if only to protect yourself. Anything you can bring to the fight, be it a knife, gun, IV pole, Call Light/TV remote, or anything else you can use are all weapons you can use toward that purpose.
I sincerely hope that Nurse recovers quickly and completely. I also sincerely hope the guy that stomped her gets punishment commensurate with his crime. Unfortunately, and this has been said in this thread, laws and policies don't stop people from doing things like this. If they did, there'd be no violence anywhere and certainly no murders because clearly, it's illegal...
If nothing else comes from this incident, at least it serves as an acute reminder to always be careful, alert, and aware. That includes us guys too. Sure, we're bigger and stronger than most females (sorry, biological fact) but even we can become a target of violence if it makes sense to the perpetrator of that violence.
Please don't be paranoid that your 6'6" 300 lb patient is going to pound you into the floor or be confident that your 4'9" 95 lb patient isn't going to hurt you. If you present an opportunity to a person that wants to do violence, they may take it. Awareness is often the first step in knowing how not to present that opportunity. Anything after that is having to deal with actual, in-progress violence. And it's always messy. Someone always gets hurt.
The term "old woman" is dismissive. Closing in fast on the "old woman" category myself, that term made me squirm a little when I read it. In all fairness, there's not a single female nurse I work with who'd stand a chance against an assault by a 40 year old man. IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE.
Another thought. A lot of posters are advocating for increased vigilance by nurses when caring for their patients. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm stressed out just watching for changes in physical condition. If I have to add physical attack to the list, I don't know how I can continue.
Specializes in ER, STICU, Neuro ICU, PACU, Burn ICU.
I worked in very large ER when I first started and we frequently had some very violent patients. Our hospital had it's own police force. They were armed and had the power to arrest. Panic buttons where everywhere in the ER and they would be at the bedside in seconds (literally). We had zero tolerance for any for of abuse on staff. Zero. Having said that, we did have a few rooms in the ER that were isolated from the other areas so I can see how something like this could happen..even at a place with security like we had. It only takes a second. She may have had no reason to be on guard. ("Hey Evelyn, can you check on that belly painer in room 5?) That poor nurse probably never saw it coming. I pray for her full recovery.
Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
Another thought. A lot of posters are advocating for increased vigilance by nurses when caring for their patients. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm stressed out just watching for changes in physical condition. If I have to add physical attack to the list, I don't know how I can continue.
Please don't become hyper vigilant or paranoid.
It just means that you pay attention to a patient that seems unusually tense, restless, irritable. Becoming agitated, angry, etc.
In that case, you just make sure you are aware, maybe medicate to take the edge off (them, not you), have someone come in to "help you" when delivering care, leaving the door open if appropriate, and being near the door if you need to beat a hasty retreat.
I think it's completely relevant. Nobody was armed, nobody defended the old woman. If people were Armed, I dare say it would have ended much sooner.
armed in a hospital? With the number of agitated patients we deal with on a daily basis, that suggestion is a recipe for disaster. The phrase "trigger-happy" comes to mind.
Well, of course. We're not talking about a static or binary topic here, we're talking about ongoing risk assessment in a fluid and ever-changing environment.
Always keep your level of awareness up, attuned to any hint of something going sideways.
^^^^ This... situational awareness... be it in the parking lot, the hallway, or the patient's room.
A couple of examples from my last couple of shifts:
We were holding down an agitated person in order to start an IV... a couple of us had the role of being sure that the guy with the needle had a stable target. In my case, I had a forearm across the patient's chest... thinking all the while, "Watch for any move to bite." I didn't watch the stick, didn't watch the other limbs, nothing... just pinned my assigned limb and watched those teeth... When we were done, we all maintained our pin until we all agreed to let go and back off simultaneously so that nobody was left in the strike zone unaided.
I had another psych patient who wanted to eat but was in 4-points... I engaged and released first one limb, keeping my shoulder toward the patient to minimize my vulnerability. I observed him for a moment and decided he was ready to comply (but recalling the times they've gone from flaccid to flailing in milliseconds) so I released the other hand. He began to eat so I bent down to address the restraint anchors. A moment later, he picked up his plate and began "reading" the bottom of it...
"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger..."
Not wanting to be clocked in the head or face with a plate, I immediately stood up, backed off, and barked, "Put the plate down... put it down." He did and things progressed uneventfully... who knows what *would* have happened but my "what *might* happen" thought process is on all the time, especially in situations like this.
And always be ready to deal violence yourself, if only to protect yourself.
Right... often you have no choice in the matter and the only thing that stops violence once it starts is a stronger response.
Anything you can bring to the fight, be it a knife, gun, IV pole, Call Light/TV remote, or anything else you can use are all weapons you can use toward that purpose.
And create space... I've used a bedside cart as a battering ram to keep a violent patient at bay while waiting for the cops (and planning my cowardly retreat)
I sincerely hope that Nurse recovers quickly and completely. I also sincerely hope the guy that stomped her gets punishment commensurate with his crime. Unfortunately, and this has been said in this thread, laws and policies don't stop people from doing things like this. If they did, there'd be no violence anywhere and certainly no murders because clearly, it's illegal...
Please don't be ... confident that your 4'9" 95 lb patient isn't going to hurt you.
All it takes is a finger in the eye to blind you... especially if it's growing a fingernail (which on many of my patients are... ewwww).
If you present an opportunity to a person that wants to do violence, they may take it. Awareness is often the first step in knowing how not to present that opportunity. Anything after that is having to deal with actual, in-progress violence. And it's always messy. Someone always gets hurt.
^^^^ This, too.
I view all people as potentially violent and make them prove their peaceful intents instead of believing that most are peaceful and then responding to their violent actions.
Really, folks, be safe out there. It's a jungle that we work in... it really is.
OCNRN63, RN
5,979 Posts
Thank you, Esme.