Safety for Nurses and Nursing students

Nursing Students General Students

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Last night on my campus there was a robbery and abduction at gunpoint of two male students. They were forced into a car with no license plates and robbed. They were released and unharmed. Thing is as a female nursing student our classes would last until 8pm. They abduction took place at around 7pm. My campus is known to have had armed and unarmed intruders. I carry mace with me but I fear that wouldn't be enough. I'd like to get a taser but I'm afraid the program won't allow it. Plus, it costs about $400. Does anyone own a taser or agree with getting one for protection? Are there any nurses or students that know if it's even legal to have in nursing school? Any and all opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance. :)

Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

Anything you carry as a weapon - tasers, mace, etc. - can be turned on you if an assailant gets a hold of them. If they are allowed, then fine, get one and commit to learning to use it PROPERLY, but I personally feel safer being able to defend myself without those things.

See if your campus, local police, or nearby hospital offers a self-defense class. I took one a couple weeks ago and I feel MUCH more confident and safe now. The class basically taught how to use the strongest points on your body to get at the weakest points on an attacker's body, and it also taught how to react when knives/guns are involved. That made me feel much better than relying on my keys or a tube of mace as a weapon. And take a refresher course every few months so the strategies stay fresh in your mind.

I also agree with posters who said to ask security to walk you to your car or walk in groups of people. And, needless to say, when you are walking to your car, pay attention to your surroundings, not your phone or your hair or anything. Get in your car, lock your doors, and drive away.

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I'm just going to be honest, speaking as someone who's be violently attacked in the past.

I carry a knife, and I have, in the past, had to pull it. Thankfully never had to use it, however.

To put it in context though, I live up north (rural Canada) where it is socially acceptable. I don't carry it in school. Nor is it illegal to carry a knife (of any length) in Canada so long as it's not concealed. It stays on my belt. I firmly believe that the fact that I DO carry something to protect myself (not to mention it makes a fantastic tool) has literally saved my life on more than one occasion. Check your local and federal laws. Furthermore, what you do or do not have off campus is none of your school's business.

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What a blessing that the people involved were unharmed!

I think a taser is a great idea if it is legal in your area - I would contact the police to see if this is legal. Check with your school to see if a taser is allowed there or at your clinical sites (my school does not allow firearms, but I have never seen anything mentioning tasers). Honestly, if they have nothing posted or there's nothing in the student handbook, I would just carry the taser and not say anything about it...if you give them the chance and they say 'no' then even if there is no written policy you shouldn't carry it. If you do get a taser however (which I would really recommend you do) then you need to make sure that you know how to use it and how to hang onto it in a situation such as recently happened. Please remember as well that a taser (or anything you carry as a weapon) could be used against you if you don't know how to handle it and it is taken from you.

There are other options that you could use, as well:

1. A personal alarm is a good idea - while I don't suggest depending on people to respond to it, most criminals are lazy and don't want to be around in case someone will respond (I wouldn't recommend a whistle in case of extreme circumstances such as strangulation, but an action alarm that will sound long and loud until you turn it off).

2. A kubaton (if it is legal) is a mini baton that you can hang on your key chain and use to hit or flail an attacker or, if you have more practice, use it to find pressure points on the attacker.

3. Your keys can be a good weapon - hold them in your fist with the keys pointing out between your fingers. I have a friend who carries some screws and holds them in her fist the same way I just suggested about your keys.

4. Mace (or any other pepper spray) is definitely good, however I would go with bear spray as it is typically stronger then the pepper spray you get to use on people (remember that most pepper sprays do need to be tested every few months to make sure that they still spray, and should be replaced periodically as well).

5. Check with the police, your school, etc to see if anyone offers a self defence class (I would suggest one by the police if available) and make sure that you take refresher courses to keep everything current in your mind.

6. I wholeheartedly agree with previous posters who suggested getting security to escort you and to always walk in a group (your school and clinical sites should have security available, and if they don't you can always talk to them about it).

7. Pay attention to your suroundings - and when you are somewhere, don't have your headphones in as that can prevent you from paying close attention or hearing a threat that you can't see.

8. Don't walk right next to a wall, row of cars, etc. as that makes it easier for someone hiding behind a corner to grab you, if possible walk several feet from walls/cars/etc on both sides.

9. As soon as you get to your car, house, etc and open the door, lock it again right away - that way when you pull the door closed behind you it will already be locked and will prevent an attacker from opening it. Obviously keep your car and house doors and windows closed and locked at all times, whether you are in it or not. Circle your car and look underneath it before getting in in order to see if anyone is hiding in or under it. I also keep my shower curtain and closet doors open, which makes it harder for someone to hide.

10. Keep from walking or driving in deserted areas as much as possible.

11. If you feel that a threatening person is approaching, hold your hands out in the signal for 'stop' (or just your hand if you are reaching for something as a weapon with you other hand) and yell 'STOP!' at the top of you lungs - if they are innocent they will obviously stop because they are thinking you are a crazy person, but if they are a criminal they might stop also because you are causing a scene and making the crime harder for them (you are no longer a crime of opportunity)...however, make sure that you don't use your weapon until the person continues coming at you in case they are innocents.

12. Carry a bright flashlight with you (I recommend a mag-light as they are heavy enough to use as a weapon, as well) so that if it is dark you can still be aware of your suroundings, and it will help prevent you from using a weapon on an innocent person.

13. Contact the local police to see what they recommend for you to use for self defence (however, beware if they tell you to simply call 911...which is something that you should be doing if someone is attacking you...because if you are being attacked or feel threatened it will most likely only be seconds until the situation becomes extreme and the police are VERY likely to get there AFTER the attack has already taken place- and when seconds are what counts, the police are always minutes away!!).

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I'm just going to be honest, speaking as someone who's be violently attacked in the past.

I carry a knife, and I have, in the past, had to pull it. Thankfully never had to use it, however.

To put it in context though, I live up north (rural Canada) where it is socially acceptable. I don't carry it in school. Nor is it illegal to carry a knife (of any length) in Canada so long as it's not concealed. It stays on my belt. I firmly believe that the fact that I DO carry something to protect myself (not to mention it makes a fantastic tool) has literally saved my life on more than one occasion. Check your local and federal laws. Furthermore, what you do or do not have off campus is none of your school's business.

I have not been attacked (although I have to pull a weapon once), but I COMPLETELY agree with poster!!!

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

you might even have to have a special license to carry a taser as they can kill. I think it wiser to walk in groups and get security to escort. Sorry this is such an issue. Sure you do not need the stress

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What state do you live in? Each state's laws concerning guns, knives, weapons in general, etc. can be very different from one to the next. My suggestion is to get professional instruction and training in whatever you decide will work best for you.

For the people stating they were "unharmed" I would suggest learning more about PTSD, it's effects and the psychological issues that arise from incidents such as this. I guarantee they were not unharmed in any sense of the word.

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you might even have to have a special license to carry a taser as they can kill. I think it wiser to walk in groups and get security to escort. Sorry this is such an issue. Sure you do not need the stress

No. You don't need a license to carry a taser but before you can use one that you bought you had to go through a background check by them. If you pass then they send you a code to input into your taser and activate it. If you don't pass then you lost about $400 and have a paperweight that can't save your life unless you pitch it to to an intruder's head. Either way we were sent another email that said they investigated and there was no kidnapping/armed robbery. So those guys are probably going to get arrested for falsifying a police report. Thank you all for your input. :)

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No. You don't need a license to carry a taser but before you can use one that you bought you had to go through a background check by them. If you pass then they send you a code to input into your taser and activate it. If you don't pass then you lost about $400 and have a paperweight that can't save your life unless you pitch it to to an intruder's head. Either way we were sent another email that said they investigated and there was no kidnapping/armed robbery. So those guys are probably going to get arrested for falsifying a police report. Thank you all for your input. :)

So sad that those guys felt the need to lie about something like that, and I am glad that they were found out.

However I am glad that you were researching taser use, and I hope that you don't decide to just 'forget it' now you know those guys were lying. An attack may not have happened in this situation, but this was a good eye opener on how easily an attack can happen - and I hope you look at it as such. Keep looking into self defense options an other things that you can do to keep yourself safe (the National Rifle Association has a class called 'Refuse to be a Victim' I don't have the website right now, but you should be able to google it, and there are probably other organizations who have similar classes...I would highly recommend this).

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