pt vs staff abuse

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a nurse in a hospital for 20 years with an exemplary career. I had an incident with a pt over the weekend and this pt scratched ,kicked, punched me and was verbally abusive. the pt was drunk. i responded to the pt by trying to physically restrain her and used the palm of my hand to push her onto her pillow before i had further harm to myself. one other nurse was in the room. i followed my workplace violence policy and reported the incident to my supervisor. because of this i was terminated today..and reported to the misconduct board..what do you think. i am afraid i have not only lost my job but lost my liscense as well. when questioned the other nurse said i slapped the pt..when i was clearly trying to maintain a safe space between me and injury

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Please get yourself a good lawyer. And by God, press charges against that patient.

This infuriates me. I wonder what their response would have been should you have been seriously injured?

:angryfire

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Please get yourself a good lawyer. And by God, press charges against that patient.

This infuriates me. I wonder what their response would have been should you have been seriously injured?

:angryfire

I would do both of these things TODAY.

The other nurse probably just cost the hospital a lot of money should the patient sue. Good.

I've learned on this forum to call 911 immediately so charges can be pressed. Enough is enough.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

Just out of curiosity was a "code strong" called. At our hospital if we have a patient who is or who is on the verge of getting out of hand we call a code strong over head, just as you would a code blue. Then all available staff including the ER Dr as well as the paramedics must attend. Alot of times just the sheer number of staff walking into the room will immediately calm the patient down, and if not, say they are detoxing and truly out of their right mind, we have plenty of man power to properly sedate and or if need be restrain the patient. This also allows for LOTS of witnesses!!!

If your hospital does not have a policy like this in place, I would include it in your lawsuit....Best of luck to you. I am a new nurse, but I hear stories like these and it sure makes me think Union...

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no we have a code and the janitor will respond..

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Specializes in Med-Surg, HH, Tele, Geriatrics, Psych.
no we have a code and the janitor will respond..

:D Do we work at the same place?

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You must be so frustrated. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I think you should get a lawyer as the others have suggested. Also press charges. At this point it can't hurt.

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I am so sorry to hear this happened to you! You have truly been wronged three times: by the patient, by your employer, and by your co-worker. I am not a nurse yet, and so I don't have any "real" experience, but I feel strongly that you should seek legal advice and also, you should press charges against this patient; if for no other reason than to make your case stronger for retaining your license. The job may be long gone, but keeping that license is of primary importance and ANYTHING to make your case stronger is a good idea at this point...Best of luck to you

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Specializes in ICU, M/S,Nurse Supervisor, CNS.
no we have a code and the janitor will respond..

LOL! Sorry to laugh at a time like this and I really hope everything works out for you. I don't really have advice to offer, but it looks like everyone else has given you some good tips to get started. I, too, would press charges though and file a grievance with the employer.:twocents:

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I agree with calling the police and pressing charges for battery, and with calling a lawyer. Immediately.

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Specializes in MRDD.

I would consult a lawyer. There is probably not much you c an do about your present job, I doubt you would want to go back anyway. Hopefully you can protect your license. Where we work we have behavior plans for our res which follow, but we also have a crisis procedure to protect us. Since you followed your workplace procedure i would get a written copy of that policy ASAP.

good Luck

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You should get a lawyer and not only to protect your liscence but I would press charges for slander against this other nurse. It might be hard because it is just your word against hers but if you really slapped the patient people nearby should have heard something. Also do you know why this other nurse had it in for you? Some people are just jerks like that but most people have to really hate some one to want to destroy a career with lies. If you can present evidence on those two things, you might win.

Since your hospital had NO provisions for YOUR safety you can sue and easily win with a good lawyer. Since you have 20+ years of nursing experience and are in for a large settlement, I say plan for early retirement.

Hospitals need to learn, we can't take care of these patients if they aren't going to take care of us. I have seen it happen at my work too. Good nurses get fired over nothing and they probably ruined their career. Its because too many nurses just take abuse from all sides. Time to fight back.

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