here is the thing one of my clients i take care is entirely too abusive. i've been with her for 2 years and it is still just as crazy there. she is a very heavy woman and we have to use a hoyer lift for transfers she is extremely abusive and i emphasize EXTREMELY!!!!!
one day i take her to her kitchen to eat breakfast, by the way she has already called me every name in the book and pulled my hair kicked me punched me bit me and spit a big honking wad of toothpaste in my face, i star getting her stuff ready and notice that there is a knife missing and i thought maybe it wasn't set out with the rest of her utensils. so she finishes eating we take her back to her room, oh there is 2 of us there and just so you know she likes me more than the other girl i'm with, get her in her chair and she stabs me right in the leg with that knife not very deep just enough to break the skin. so i call my boss and tell her and she straight laughs and me and says that's just how she is. i was so angry and couldn't do anything about it. so about 30 minutes later the woman rings her little bell, not kidding she rings this little bell when she wants something it's awful i even hear it in my sleep, because she dropped her remote i bend down to get it and that lady snips my ponytail OFF with a pair of scissors. again my boss doesn't do anything and i was still there for 10 more hours.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
You asked for help so this is all I can say to you. It sounds like both your boss and the client need psych consults and possible involvement of the police and/or or Adult Protective services. I honestly don't understand why you would set foot back in the home of someone who stabbed your leg and cut your hair off.
I know times are rough, and I don't mean to sound callous, but you need to stop allowing yourself to be mistreated. Unless you are actively involved in looking for another job every spare minute you get, I'm concerned that you will have issues in the future, especially going into a field like nursing knowing what the proper boundaries are between you and others both physically and psychologically. Best wishes to you.
Do not ignore this, it will not get better. What happens next time? Will she slice your throat, poke an eye out? Your boss is afraid to take action. Do NOT trust your boss ever again. You are on your own, but not alone.
File a complaint with the police, it was illegal--assault and battery. Then file a formal complaint with your boss's manager and the Board of nursing. If this is a home health agency, call the better business bureau. Make sure you write/document everything.
You don't deserve this. Jobs are replaceable. Your license and your life is not! Just ask yourself, if this were your daughter in your shoes, what would you want her to do?
Quit... the boss blatantly does not care about the employees. I am sure the boss would react with the same attitude, if the resident took out a 12 gauge rifle and fired it! Oh! Hee...HEE. HEE.... that is just the way she is!
I think the employer should also be reported. If she is running a home health agency, and suggests that you 'up the O2' to make a pt pass out, and that is her only suggestion for offering you a safe working environment, well, pts AND employees are at risk. IMHO!
here is the thing one of my clients i take care is entirely too abusive. i've been with her for 2 years and it is still just as crazy there. she is a very heavy woman and we have to use a hoyer lift for transfers she is extremely abusive and i emphasize EXTREMELY!!!!!
one day i take her to her kitchen to eat breakfast, by the way she has already called me every name in the book and pulled my hair kicked me punched me bit me and spit a big honking wad of toothpaste in my face, i star getting her stuff ready and notice that there is a knife missing and i thought maybe it wasn't set out with the rest of her utensils. so she finishes eating we take her back to her room, oh there is 2 of us there and just so you know she likes me more than the other girl i'm with, get her in her chair and she stabs me right in the leg with that knife not very deep just enough to break the skin. so i call my boss and tell her and she straight laughs and me and says that's just how she is. i was so angry and couldn't do anything about it. so about 30 minutes later the woman rings her little bell, not kidding she rings this little bell when she wants something it's awful i even hear it in my sleep, because she dropped her remote i bend down to get it and that lady snips my ponytail OFF with a pair of scissors. again my boss doesn't do anything and i was still there for 10 more hours.
what should i have done?
This may be ok for now with the money being good and all but how about later? Don't get to a point where you snap.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Personal safety is a must and your employer is at big fault not making sure this is something that is done. What would she do if you decided to sue them?
I agree that you need to report this to the police. I'd also be contacting the department of labor, and a laywer. The fact that your boss laughed when you reported this assault makes me believe you are working in a hostile work enviroment. I'm sure you are a great advocate for your patients, it's time to be one for yourself.
I am not a nurse yet, I don't even start my ABSN program until jan., so take what I say with a grain of salt. However, I am an EMT and one thing that got beaten into our heads over and over again is you do not enter a scene that is unsafe and if a scene becomes unsafe while you are there, you withdraw and summon the proper authorities to make the scene safe once again. I don't know how it should be any different for nurses. For all the things that may be funny with EMS, one thing I can say is I have never seen higher-ups fail to support their people when an individual's safety is on the line. Frankly, I couldn't work somewhere where I knew if something happened I'd be left twisting in the wind.
Were it me, I'd be looking for another job right now, as this employer has made it clear your safety is not important to them. In the meantime I would NOT take care of that particular patient again. I would document everything. if you truly believe you will be fired for your refusal, I would make a copy and have it notarized and sealed and left with an attorney prior to, so that you can show you were not just making these things up, but rather were being forced to work in an unsafe and hostile work environment.
Best of luck to you, but you need to help yourself too.
You do house cleaning? Why can't the family do that? Is that part of your job?
She stabbed you and you think it's worth the money?
I would rather be broke than ever be stabbed at, have my hair cut (what if that was your neck?), and have a boss who does not care about my well-being.
Sweetheart if what you're telling us is true then WAKE UP, WAKE UP sunshine. This is not a normal working environment. Get out as soon as possible.
nursel56
7,122 Posts
You asked for help so this is all I can say to you. It sounds like both your boss and the client need psych consults and possible involvement of the police and/or or Adult Protective services. I honestly don't understand why you would set foot back in the home of someone who stabbed your leg and cut your hair off.
I know times are rough, and I don't mean to sound callous, but you need to stop allowing yourself to be mistreated. Unless you are actively involved in looking for another job every spare minute you get, I'm concerned that you will have issues in the future, especially going into a field like nursing knowing what the proper boundaries are between you and others both physically and psychologically. Best wishes to you.