Caro

My hospital has used Narcan for self mutilating patients with varying results. It seems to work best for those patients who are motivated to stop their behaviour.

Not a completely unknown scenario ! My fiance nursed a guy who was psychotically depressed and performed a bit of do it yourself eye removal. poor guy removed both eyes within seconds. Alas nurses are not gifted with telepathic powers and sometimes you don't see something like that coming. You can't keep people in restraints or seclusion because they might do something. I admitted a guy whose first sign of psychosis was cutting off his member , testicles and ears - his horrified parents were able to restrain him before he could pluck out his eyes. Caroline

Of course there is carrot in there ! The carrot man sneaks up behind the vomiter and throws diced carrot over their shoulder while they vomit ! However, an italian friend of mine swears she always finds tinned tomato ! Caroline

Alas , this lady died in our care....probably from a PE. I say probably because we couldn't fit her in the elevator to take her to the pm lab. Caroline

Hi Goofball 76 stones is 1064 pounds. We are talking about one VERY big woman ! Caroline:eek:

For me the number one horror is.......SPUTUM. False teeth make me feel a bit "unusual "...and the never forgotten smell of malaena is fairly vile. My worst experience ever was putting a Foley in a 76 stone woman .... I should have worn a snorkel. I had visions of disappearing if she took a deep breath! Caroline:eek:

Hi Don You're right - the Australian Nursing Federation is very active ! We are currently working with the Union to get an acceptable outcome to this situation - unfortunately in this particular hospital many of the nurses don't believe in charging patients and management actively discourages them from pursuing charges.A nurse who went to the local police station to report an assault was told that they would not pursue charges unless the head of security at the hospital agreed to support the claim !!!!! I'll keep you posted on any outcome. Caroline

Hi This thread has touched on one of my long standing gripes ! I have found the issue of patient accountabilty varies tremendously from hospital to hospital.The first Psych Unit I worked in had a policy that any patient who assaulted a staff member , visitor or fellow patient would be charged by the police immediately.There were no exceptions and the hospital pursued the matter on behalf of the individual who had been assaulted. Certainly the majority of patients who were psychotic had the charges dropped, but it sent a clear message to the PDs and non-psychotic patients. Also having charges laid entitled the victim to seek criminal compensation - even if the charges were dropped due to the patient's mental state. Interestingly , many patients reported feeling safer from aggression with such consistent management.All patients were made aware of this policy on admission. Unfortunately the current hospital I work in believes that being assaulted is part of the job...unless you are a doctor, psychologist or social worker etc. Nurses are expected to act as de facto bodyguards for medical staff - considering I'm a runty little creature most of the doctors and patients tower over me, so as a human shield I may not be all that useful ! Related to this issue is the lack of medical care available to nurses immediately following a serious assault - this has resulted in concussed staff being unable to make informed choices about immediate treatment options. Caroline