Psych Ward Violence: Safety Measures Where You Work

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

In your psych facility, are patients routinely or ever strip searched? Patted down? Nothing? Other?

Are their visitors subject to rigorous searching of their bodies (pat-down) and packages? Are items brought in by visitors subject to search and approval by staff prior to being given to patients?

Are patients' rooms, lockers, etc. subject to random or regular search, especially after they have visitors or when they return from being off of the unit or out of the hospital?

Do you think the above measures should be implemented? Why or why not? Would doing these things make the inpatient wards safer for you and for other patients?

How often do your patients knife or beat or otherwise assault and batter others with some weapon that they managed to hide or make from materials found on the ward? Are you satisfied with the level and types of safety measures at your facility? Are you government-run or private? Do you have any forensic clients, either pre-trial or post-conviction?

Thanks for any input.

Specializes in Psychiatric.

When I worked inpatient, the first place I worked was an emergency evaluation unit where patients were brought to be evaluated for 2 weeks before going back to court to see what had been decided for them...we had a fair bit of forensic patients...they were strip searched upon admission, and their belongings were searched...only certain items were given back to them to keep, and the rest was locked up for them. If they had visitors, the visitors were searched, and if they brought items for the patients, that item was searched. After visiting hours were over, the patients and their rooms were searched again. Rooms were searched daily.

At my second job, patients were searched upon admission, along with their belongings, and items which could be given to the patients were returned. Visitors and items which they brought were searched, and we conducted daily room searches there too. The only difference between the two is that the patients at the first place were strip searched.

Obviously, the patients from the first facility were much more violent. We had a large population of prison/jail patients and it made for a volatile situation. Oddly enough, in the short time I worked there, we never found a weapon anywhere.

Specializes in Psych, education.

When I worked inpatient, we did do a strip search on admission along with a belongings check. We did at least weekly room checks with random room checks thrown in. We did check everything any visitors brought in, and we did not allow visitors into patient rooms. We also did urine tox screens 3 times/week for SA patients.

Despite that, we still had people sneak knives and drugs onto the unit. You can never be too safe. In fact, it was always when we became complacent that bad things happened to us or other patients.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych.

At our inpatient facility, all pts are stripsearched during the admission process and whenever they return to the facility. All personal belongings are checked at admit and when visitors bring in new items. Visitors leave their extra possessions (purses, wallets, keys, lighters) at the nurses station when visiting patients, but are not searched. A safety check of pt rooms and all pt areas is done by day and evening shifts, but not on night shift.

Even tho we have these procedures, items not allowed on the unit are frequently found during safety checks, and safety checks also frequently do not find items that pts are hiding in their rooms. The bottom line is that safety depends on each staff person following proper procedure and having the mindset that they want to do all they can to ensure both staff and pts are safe on the unit - meaning that they do these tasks with the suspicion that they might find something unsafe and tricky to find - somehow this isn't happening!!!

We do room checks every shift, but we still find contraband. We have longer visiting hours than other psych units in my area and I'm sure that contributes to it (more visitors, more contraband being brought in). We do check through visitors bags (like pt gifts), but not through their personal belongings. We even check food that visitors bring to pts because the last time we had crack cocaine on the unit it came in on a cheeseburger, right under the bun in a little baggie. We do go through pts belongings upon admit and whenever their families bring them more clothes. They only get strip searched if we KNOW they've got something on them and we can't find it and they refuse to give it to us. Then we call security and get it. Every single time, it's on their person, usually in their bra for women, or their sock. We don't have too much of a problem with people making weapons, although I did have a couple of young girls break the heads off toothbrushes and file them down using the corner of the radiator to "shank" someone with. I put a stop to that quickly.

We have our fair share of pts who pride themselves on having lived most of their adult lives in the prison system and just can't function now on the "outside", and most of our pts have been to jail a time or two.

To answer your other questions, I work at a medium sized (800+ beds) Catholic hospital. I think we could do way better with safety, but I think the visiting hours need decreased and I don't think pts need to be visiting in their rooms with the doors closed. Nor do I think we need to have a glass-enclosed nurses station on our acute unit.

Specializes in Psych, education.

One of the issues of contraband is that it is really easy to pass on. I had a cocaine patient show me how easy it is to pass crack to another patient: All it took was a handshake. If I wasn't watching intensely at the moment, I wouldn't have caught it. I have also seen patients sneaking small rocks of crack inside their cigarettes.

I have had patients sneaking razors in the soles of their shoes, taped to their skin, inside their wigs, and in make-up cases. I have watched people cut themselves with broken CDs, paperclips, thumbtacks, and Lee Press-on nails. I have also seen a young lady try to suffocate herself using a plastic baggy.

It is these small things that so many people do not think of until they get the unfortunate experience of having a patient actually hurt themselves. At one time, I helped our ED find oall of their safety hazards, and they were amazed at the small things they didn't think of. Again, you can't be too safe.

Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

strip search upon admit, then visitors come and heaven knows what they may slip to them....no more routine searches unless there is cause to do this....visitors just leave keys and bags at the desk....I often wonder why more things don't get in, but very glad that they don't....we room search if we have reason to do this or suspect anything....

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