Should my friend sue? (Related to Psych nursing)

Published Jan 16, 2006

11 Posts

i'm a first year nursing student and am interested in going into psych nursing in the future htough not with adults; i'd like to get into the oediatrics area. however i have some personal experience with mental health issues and have been hospitalized on a pyshiatric unit in my past for severe depression and a couple other issues and thus with all of the above combined i have a great interest in the goings-on of these units. (this was just to give you a bit of background).

i have a friend who was hospitalized for depression (w/ a history of past and current-at-the-time history of cutting), addiction and an unstable eating disorder back in october. so she was in pretty rough shape emotionally but had agreed with her doctor to be admitted. i don't know exactly how long she had been in the hospital that time (she'd had a series of admissions last fall) but somehow a staff member had found a razor blade in a sock of hers and it it all came about that she was to leave the unit. two security guards came to her room as she was packing up her stuff and were rather rough with her words and starting grabbing her things as she was packing them into her bags. she falied her arms a bit in an attempt to get her things back to put in her bag and for some reason the security guards took this as some sort of threat/resistance and proceeded to grab her by her arms and pummel her and beat her up,:uhoh21: calling her derogatory names. while this was going on someone called the police and a police officer showed up, and my friend got charged with concealment of a weapon (razor blade in a sock) and i think assault. she got taken downstairs to the cop car and to jail and throughout the process was continued to be handled very roughly and called names :stone by the officer. when she was taken before the crown ____ (i'm not sure what it's called), he couldn't believe it (he actually told her that)and immediately dismissed all charges against her and she was free to go. my friend had a picture taken of her laying out, showing her face, arms and legs and they were covered in bruises. i was completely shocked :uhoh21: when i first saw the picture. i'd had no idea what had happened to her when i first saw it. i couldn't believe it. those security guards had no right to do that to her and never have the right to do that to anyone under any circumstances, that is assault/battery/abuse!! and i also can't believe they would actually charge her for the razor blade. i'm sure i'd be really surprised at the assortment of things the staff on psychiatric units find in the possession of patients that they have in their belongings with either the intent to hurt themselves with or have used in the past to hurt themselves and just have a "need" to have with them to feel "safe" (you may have to have some education/knowledge of mental health issues to get that last part). so a razor blade isn't a shocker.

in my opinion i totally think my friend has the grounds to sue. we've had a story on the news in my city in the last year of someone who sued a couple of cops for abuse and the pictures were released to the media and he just had a few bruises on his face. like 1/8 of what my friend's phots portray.

yes, i'm sure she was fighting back when she was grabbed by the guards and pummeld but who wouldn't in such a situation?? it's instinct. plus she has been abused :sofahider in the past.

i'm just wondering what other people think??? my friend wants me to help her in making a decision.

karine