Psych nurse attacked by patient

Published

I feel very angry and sad about the nurse who was attacked in Western Australia. This is the story.

http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8895806%255E1702,00.html

I think that the moving of psych patients back into the community has been the biggest mistake ever. Mental Institutions should have remained open, not this "care in the commumity" rubbish.

My sister has a mental illness and has attacked a nurse before. My parents were upset when the nurse decided to press charges, however, I told them I felt otherwise and was glad she was taking the action. She was charged and having been attacked by her myself, strangled when I was 15 and verbally abused a number of times I feel very strongly about this psych patients in the community issue. She has other incidents of what i call anti social behaviour and has been taken to hospital numerous times but they release her. it goes around in circles and is starting to affect the health of my parents.

I hope the nurse in ICU recovers, and her colleague too and that the governent and these health bodies who think they know what it is like sitting in their offices finally do something.

I just feel so sad and angry tonight. I really do :o

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Specializes in ICU.

Barb - this did not even make national headlines :angryfire Where was the emergency backup for those nurses. The psych facility I used to work with had some pretty strict safety policies. something has gone terribly wrong there somewhere.

I hope this poor nurse gets better - please keep us posted.

I also feel for you having a sister with problems - it is very difficult and yes there does seem to be a reluctance to take on some patients into psych facilities leaving members of the community at risk.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

Saw this reported on the TV news last night. Like you Barb, I felt angry & saddened. My heart goes out to this poor girl. They had her photo on the news.

Only when something like this happens to a manager, or someone close to a person in management, government, decision / policy making, will we see changes made! The way I see it, people at the decision making level, have absolutely NO idea when it comes to issues facing the folks at the coalface!

And they wonder why excellent nurses are leaving the workforce in droves!!

I have this nurse in my thoughts & prayers, let's hope she has a fulll & speedy recovery.

Regards,

Grace

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Specializes in ICU.
East Metropolitan Health Service mental health area director Mark Rooney said there would be a thorough investigation but he questioned whether it needed to be blown up into a public sector issue.

And if it is not "blown up into a public sector issue" will there be anything done about it. Oh! No sir! we will keep this in the public view so it cannot be swept under the carpet.

Thank-you Barb for keeping us posted especially since you have other concerns at the moment.

As always my wishes and hopes and prayers for this girl and her family.

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My prayers to the nurse who was attacked. This has happened several times at our state mental hospital, but as far as I know, never in the private sector. Hopefully, this will not be " swept under the rug" so that new laws and guidelines can prevent future attacks such as this one.

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There was nothing in the news today. The news included a segment on "who has the messiest rooms - boy or girl teenagers" :rolleyes: No news whatsoever on attacks in the workplace on nurses. :o

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Specializes in ICU.

Nothing on the news over here and nothing on either the ANF or the QNU websites. I hope this poor girl pulls through alright.

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I can't believe I haven't seen anything about this on the news, I hope this nurse pulls through. I am so mad after reading this.

The government has to do something about this, this cannot be swept under the rug. It is a well known fact that nurses are often attacked at work and yet it is tolerated, why? Because the politicians are politicians and not nurses.

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I can't believe I haven't seen anything about this on the news, I hope this nurse pulls through. I am so mad after reading this.

The government has to do something about this, this cannot be swept under the rug. It is a well known fact that nurses are often attacked at work and yet it is tolerated, why? Because the politicians are politicians and not nurses.

After a google search of about 5 minutes with using a few different keywords, this was the only article that was on the net. They had a snippet about it in the news, just enough to fill those few seconds before the commercial break :rolleyes:

Still hoping she is going okey, but there is no news available. There is nothing on the WA ANF site.

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I think that the 'idea' that attacking nurses is classified the same as attacking a public officer as it says this is not to be tolerated. However I don't think it will have any affect on the incidence rate as I don't think people will stop and say to themselves "Oh, actually I better not hit this nurse as my punishment will be greater"

What is needed is better staffing and better security.

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