Pts who assault, is there any protection or policy?

[WVStarFish]

I don't work in a hospital, the MI pts I see live in the community and walk in to our center, kind of like a doctors office. Or we use our vehicles to transport them ourselves. Our pts are the same small group, so we know them very well. For the most part.

I'm wondering if any workplace has a policy for when pts inappropriately touch staff, or even threaten to violently assault staff.

I understand the pts are mentally ill, and our site deals with the severely MI, but are we expected to overlook the assault just because the person is MI?

Is there any kind of protection for bmed staff, like if staff refuse to be alone (totally alone in the office, or in the car) with pts who have a history of assaulting or intimidating of that staff?

Surely, there must be some kind of protection for us, esp in the event of a pt with a history with certain staff. What does everyone else do?

As you can tell, I'm just a little upset over this. I came here to post this question first before trying to "make waves" with my employer. I really like my job, except for the couple of "touchy" pts, and I'm hoping I have something to back me up on this.

[Jules A, MSN]

Although I will enter a patient's room, with the door left open of course, if I know them and feel safe but that is about as isolated as I am willing to be with them. I would not be comfortable being alone in a car etc. with a patient even if I wasn't afraid they would become assualtive or inappropriate. The chance of getting hit by a patient is always a possibility in psych nursing but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prudent. I hope your employer is supportive or it may be time to look for another job. Good luck.

[diawc]

We do have to transport patients at times, and it is AlWAYS with 2 staff members. Safety goes both ways...like the above poster, assaults happen. If you have patients who are touchy/feely, they should not be alone with a staff ever, those are the kind who turn around and report YOU for inappropriate conduct.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

If I have to be along with a patient and I'm not comfortable with it, I always take another staff member with me. And if any patient tries to be inappropriate in any way, I set boundaries immediately...and most importantly, I stick to those boundaries. The problems often occur when a staff member doesn't set rules for the patient, or sets them but then is lax about enforcing them.