Anyone NEVER been hit/hurt working psych?

No, I have never been hit in 20 years. Had to dodge a little, or walk the other way, maybe keep my distance. But I have never provided direct care, either.

Never been hurt? That would be me. I have 30+ years experience in MH. The lions share on acute psychiatric units. I have taken a rogue punch back in the day. No good MH RN hasn't taken a punch. That happens when we lay hands on an individual against their will. Or happen to be near when someone decides to act out. Or when a person is scared and confused. We are dealing with folks on the worst days of their lives.

I am adept at keeping myself safe, having been raised with a dysregulated parent. I have good communication skills. An effective de-escalation style. I stay fit by exercising which helps maintain quick reflexes. And makes me a less likely victim.

Hi there,

I'm a newbie to working for money in inpatient psych; I'm a PMHNP student in my final semester and I started a Per Diem position in an inpatient adult unit. I've had internships in adult and child ambulatory, and in the observation unit, which is like the ER of the psych hospital. I have never been physically assaulted, but the verbal insults are awful. I generally have a great rapport with patients, but sometimes I encounter patients that I just cannot reach. It makes me feel awful, every time. I know this is an area of growth, for me, not to internalize the things that are said to me that are meant to be insults. When it's psychiatric, I can dismiss it as just that: the pathology of the disease. But, when it's behavioral, and when the patient is incredibly angry, it upsets me to no end. I think this education is not only about learning how to treat people with mental and behavioral health issues, but also a journey into your own psyche to figure out why certain things push our buttons. I have worked in long term care facilities where the patients with dementia/Alzheimer's were incredibly violent, and sometimes I wished for kevlar sleeves because of bites and scratches, but again, that was the disease process. It is only when someone intentionally and calculatedly tries to hurt me, either emotionally or physically, that I tend to take it in, ruminate on it incessantly, and try to figure out how I could have done better. Sorry for the novel, I'm processing while I write.

I am adept at keeping myself safe, having been raised with a dysregulated parent. I have good communication skills. An effective de-escalation style. I stay fit by exercising which helps maintain quick reflexes. And makes me a less likely victim.

All this. I am used to the roles I had to play with my parents, I have a lot of deescalation/non verbal communication training. I learned a lot of how not to wear my emotions on my sleeve. I've taken every CE I could get my grubby little hands on in things like risk assessment and individual psych disorders. The more you know, the better you get.

Not always. I work in a state facility where we have adolescents, geriatric, and everyone in between including forensics. The adolescents are the ones you need to watch. Not only are they mentally ill but like all adolescents their self control is still under construction. Add to that that some of these "kids" are well over six feet tall, weight upwards of 300 plus pounds, and are stronger than a lot of grown men. They can be VERY volatile and extremely dangerous to deal with.

I work in an acute adolescent unit. I've been kicked, punched at, pushed, and had things thrown at me. I was able to roll with the kick and dodge the punch. Fortunately, the things that were thrown at me didn't hit my head or anything. I haven't had any bruises or cuts from these (so far). The techs get injured more than the nurses in general on my floor, because they are going hands on more. We have had nurses injured at my facility. I work with a really good team, which is everything. We watch out for each other. I try to keep my spidey senses operating at all time. I also try to keep myself in shape just to make my odds a little better.

I worked at a state forensic facility for many years. I had the very occasional inappropriate inmate, but security was always good.

However, one time when staff did not agree with my assessment and recommendations, I came out to find my car rather thoroughly keyed.

I had my first true assault the other day. Turned around to answer a question of another nurse and got sucker punched right in the jaw. My supervisor was kind of a jerk about the whole thing, and wouldn't let me go to the ER until I filled out an incident report on myself- one hand typing while holding the ice to my face with the other. It really made me more careful now than I was before, and I go to the codes a lot less frequently. It really solidified to me the unpredictability of the job and it pushed forward my quitting date significantly. I love being a psych nurse, but after what I've seen the last few years and the total lack of safety for nurses, I'm ready to leave to outpatient the minute I get my PMHNP.

All the time on the geri ward, and unprovoked of course. ONCE in the adult inpatient unit, but that was kinda my fault.

Spent six years working an intake unit where all our patients were fresh off the street and still seriously psychotic. I had one grab me from behind and try to choke me out one night while I was sitting one to one on another patient. I wound up with bruises on my throat.

I’ve been hit, bitten, kicked, head butted, scratched, spit on, and just generally beaten during restraint situations while giving emergency injections. I’ve also known two aides who were attacked and so badly injured they are now living on disability.

Like others have said, always be aware of your surroundings and NEVER forget who you are dealing with. The mildest, most timid patient you have can go off without warning given the rift circumstances. And remember that management considers the nurses and aides to be interchangeable parts of the machine just like parts in your car.

I work in corrections now and most of my patients are, to be politically incorrect, totally nuts. The difference is I have correctional officers with me whenever I am dealing with them and the really bad ones are in wrist restraints and sometimes full shackles. I feel safer dealing with the murderers, rapists, gang bangers, etc. than I ever did working in the mental facility.

I have never been assaulted in Psych (5 1/2 years in).

When I worked medical (med-surg, Cardiac/Neuro ICU/IMCU), I was hit, kicked, scratched, bitten and groped.