Nurse shot in Calif at LTC facility

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Dec 26, 2004

[color=#0a17be]nurse shot at southern california convalescent home

(perris, california-ap) dec. 25, 2004 - an 87-year-old man allegedly shot a nurse at a southern california convalescent center.

authorities say he was angry about the care a relative was receiving. the nurse, who was shot at close range, is in critical condition.

the shooting happened at the ember care health center in perris, about 70 miles southeast of los angeles. a witness says norman larson threatened to shoot another nurse.

the witness told kabc-tv that the other nurse was made to get on her knees and beg for her life. she's said to have told larson that it was christmas and that she had kids.

the witness says larson let her go. larson was arrested after being detained by center employees.

explorer · Dec 26, 2004

[color=#0a17be]nurse shot at southern california convalescent home
(perris, california-ap) dec. 25, 2004 - an 87-year-old man allegedly shot a nurse at a southern california convalescent center.
authorities say he was angry about the care a relative was receiving. the nurse, who was shot at close range, is in critical condition.
the shooting happened at the ember care health center in perris, about 70 miles southeast of los angeles. a witness says norman larson threatened to shoot another nurse.
the witness told kabc-tv that the other nurse was made to get on her knees and beg for her life. she's said to have told larson that it was christmas and that she had kids.
the witness says larson let her go. larson was arrested after being detained by center employees.

i have read that same article about the nurse being shot in the face. it seems like we will have to have metal detectors in all public facilities.

:balloons:

TracyB,RN, RN · Dec 26, 2004

Just another complaint of mine, about health care being waaaay to "customer" oriented & not about patient care. His complaint probably didn't even have anything to do with the nurse he shot. God help the nurse who was shot... I hope she is able to make a complete recovery.

As for the 87 year old... had he been the "typical" 87 yr old, I would have side stepped him & taken his *** down, no matter how old.... His broken hip would have been a hell of a lot easier to fix than that poor nurse in critical condition.. If this old dude was spry enough to shoot someone, maybe he should have been caring for the family member by himself at hom.

And all the more reason, that doors at all LTC facilities should be ALWAYS locked & the professional staff allowed to carry & have cell phones ON & ready to go....AND all healthcare professionals should be taught how to self-defend in such situations. Someone points a gun at me, I am zig-zagging as I QUICKLY back away, so he can't concentrate his aim on me, then they are going down, when I sneak back up on them....

People are just nucking futs!!!!!!!!!!!!

live4today, RN · Dec 26, 2004

Well...don't count on Governor Swarzz to do anything to eradicate bad behavior like that in California. :rolleyes: He never responded to my plea for help when I was assaulted by a hospital visitor while on assignment there this spring. :angryfire

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 26, 2004

I just caught this as I was surfing the Net for the day's news.

All I can say is, WOW.......This is the risk that everyone in health care faces, but nobody really likes to talk about. It's scary to think there are nuts out there who can just walk into your workplace and shoot you just because they've got a bug up their @$$, or because they have a grudge against health care workers, or because they need attention and that's the only way they think they can get it.

About eight years ago, I was working the desk on the OB-GYN floor when a young man came off the elevator with a gun and threatened to kill anyone who tried to keep him from taking his girlfriend and his newborn baby, both of whom had tested positive for methamphetamine, out of the hospital. We'd already been warned that he might try something after he'd been escorted from the building for being belligerent and disruptive during the birth, and luckily for all concerned the security team intercepted him and cornered him in one of the empty rooms until the cops got there. But none of us who were there that night will ever forget how frightened we were or how helpless we felt......he had the look of someone who is totally out of control, and I know I had no doubt that he would shoot me and/or anyone else who got in his way.

I feel awful for this nurse, her family, and co-workers. May her physical AND emotional recovery be swift, and may this incident serve as a lesson to health facilities everywhere to be proactive in protecting their employees from harm......I know that sometimes you can't predict things like this, but it seems that SOMEONE should have been aware that this visitor was headed off the deep end, he was there for what, five hours and no one had a clue??

GingerSue · Dec 26, 2004

poor nurse, this is terrible.

Blackcat99 · Dec 26, 2004

Yes what a terrible tragedy. I agree with Tracy. If the old man was spry enough to shoot someone perhaps he should have cared for the relative at his home. I know we had a man at my LTC who constantly complained about his wife's care. Finally, he said he had had enough of us and took his wife home to care for her himself. One week later he brought her back to us and stopped complaining. I wonder what was going on at the time of this shooting. Did they have staff call-ins so they were especially short of staff? Or because it was Christmas they were working with a skeleton crew anyway?

My prayers are with this nurse and her family. :crying2:

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2004

Ugh! This is sick!

Tracy's right - people are nucking futs!

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Dec 26, 2004

This is a terrible tragedy. It makes me wonder what will happen to this nurse. I mean, here she is, probably permanently damaged physically and emotionally. If she is unionized, would a union help with her expenses, aftercare, or provide some kind of living for her? Will she have to go on disability, welfare, sell her house to make ends meet?

Should we as nurses not feel some professional responsibility and unity in a situation like this?

We nurses really don't have much job security when we're forced to look at the big picture, do we? I mean, that could've happened to any of us. And how much professional and workplace support would we get?

I'm betting not a lot.

So Arnie's not gonna improve patient ratios so nurses can have the time to cool down situations like these. Maybe he's the one who oughta pay for her recovery, eh?

GingerSue · Dec 26, 2004

Since I've been reading about these assaults on nurses - and they are horrible, I also think about job security and hazards - this expands to thoughts of other kinds of jobs and their occupational hazards and job security. I think of airline staff who have to worry about troublesome travelers onboard (I had one airline acquaintance tell about being with co-workers for an evening get-together, while in a foreign country, in one of the hotel rooms - then some strangers appear and rob them as a group). Or teachers who worry about angry aggressive students (one of my teacher acquaintances worked in a small community and was living alone, being harassed in evenings by groups throwing rocks through her window - yes she called the police + made some changes to get out of there). There are dangers in many jobs. And I doubt that most jobs guarantee job security - unless you are a tenured professor, or maybe famous. I surely do hope there is some assistance for this unfortunate nurse - sometimes supports have to be set-up when the unexpected happens - such as trust funds on behalf of the person. These can be quite successful if people reach out with the message and request.