Someone gave me a knuckle SW and I'm NPO!!!

[CaLLaCoDe]

VIOLENCE AT WORK

How do you handle it? Had a patient almost hit me squarely with a knuckle sandwich and the aide (sitter) in the room freaked and stated she would demand not to be on the case any longer. Called for family to come in to see patient; patient calmed down...eventually.

Let me know your tai chi of dealing with violence, common in this day and age. What is your secret to handling a violent SOB?! and I don't mean short of breath LOL

Funny cartoon at icu journal! (click on website link)

http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijeicm/vol1n2/cartoon1.xml

[deeDawntee, RN]

working in an inpt hospice facility, i am always the bearer of bad news.

one time, the adult son of my pt., attempted to strangle me right after i pronounced death.

i remember him having such hatred in his eyes, screaming, "you killed my mother", "you killed my mother!!"

i actually lost consciousness.

police were called.

i remember feeling so torn about pressing charges.

i didn't.

but police did.

i had vertical ecchymotic areas on both sides of my throat...

this happens too frequently.

a few family members have become extremely angry at me, stating morphine/methadone/dilaudid, whatever the drug, killed their love one.

we now have security at our facility.

leslie

OH MY GOD!! How did you cope with that?

Unbelievable!! Are you at a hospital??

You are a true hero.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

The scarey thing at my facility is that the security department do not have guns, billy clubs or tazers. Only their presence mind you is enougth! And I suspect they aren't even trained in self defence! LOL They are not allowed to put their hands on a violent individual!!! What's up with this???

Anyway, I was not hurt by my patient, thank you everyone for your concern. Now, anyone else have a very scarey tale to tell?

[leslie :-D]

OH MY GOD!! How did you cope with that?

Unbelievable!! Are you at a hospital??

You are a true hero.

i can assure you dee, i am NOT a hero...

i struggle w/my decisions not to press charges.

on one hand, these people are in the pits of despair.

their grief is so raw and palpable.

otoh, getting assaulted is getting old, and i'm losing my empathy.

security has been instructed to taze the perps as a very last resort.

2 people have been tazed.

leslie

[EmmaG, RN]

Good Lord, Leslie...

I've been assaulted many times, luckily without any real damage. But like you said, it's getting old... and so am I. Too old to be beat on by patients and families.

I wouldn't hesitate to file charges now.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

File charges if you can.

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

File charges, maybe in 2 or 3 yrs it will come to court.

Ive been bit. Ive had cracked ribs, I have had flesh bitten out of my are and swallowed. Had 3 teeth loosened, eventually they fell out.

Im now too old, in my book, to take these young guns on anymore. I just dont heal as fast as I used to. For some silly reason.

[mamalle]

I hope you are okay. I too filed charged after a lady smacked the crap out of my back. all awhile a cop sitting with a patient next to her. I did file charges and the state attorney's office contacted me. she had a mental illness so it wasnt going to go far but I went ahead and had it all documented just in case there was a next time. we have a OT officer in our ER 24/7 because we had a prisoner hold one of our nurses hostage with a blade from a razor for over 8 hours.

[Ms Kylee]

I probably should have reported the patient that threw her teddy bear across the room at me and hit me square in the back. Of course, I probably shouldn't have turned my back to her either.... she has dementia.... what I didn't know was someone from dietary saw the bear hurling from the hallway and went and got someone. By the time the nurse got there, I was out of the room and the bear was put next to the patient's flowers. When I did pick up the bear, I did tell the patient that throwing things isn't very nice.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

There was a girl that started LPN school with me years ago that had this horrible bruising on her face. We all found out she had her nose broken by a resident at a NH she worked at. I think we all contemplated dropping out. Not what we sign up for but unfortunately,, the only thing we have the right to do is run. Especially with the DD or elderly confused patients. They normally wouldnt have been like that and the families are usually horrified their family member is acting out like that. The patient would have been horrified if they in their right mind knew they were acting like that.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

This is the one area of nursing school that they left out: dealing with the violent patient or patient's family members. I heard from a coworker who worked in LosAngeles that commonly they are given inservices to diffuse violent behavior. Perhaps this will be mandatory for hospital personnell in the future, hopefully sooner than later!

[MsPiggy]

We deal with behavior problem pt.s daily, mostly high or drunk on something.

Our staff is all certified in CPI (Crisis Prevention Management) It does give you a LOT of helpful suggestions and tools for de-escalating. Unfortunately when someone is geeked out on Crack or Meth there is always the chance they have a weapon or can very easily overpower us. Security at our facility is for visual presence only they are not allowed to restrain the pt.s in anyway and if a pt becomes a danger to staff or self we have to call 911-this policy needs some reform in my opinion..Me I go with my gut, if I can see a pt is starting to get agitated and the little hairs stand up on the back of my neck I try to get out of the room and get help...So far ok with a couple of close calls & thrown punches, confiscated knives & guns.

I have no idea what the laws are in Mich for assaulting a medical professional however doubt my patient population would be held accountable due to their intoxication & or mental state.

I wish incoming patients were searched for weapons and contraband BEFORE the admission process, it would make me feel a lot safer since I'm first in the line of fire so to speak.

I hope your jaw/face heals quickly, it's very frightening when these things happen, did your employer have any sort of de briefing after the incident? (Mine wouldn't bother I'm sure). Take care of you...makes you wonder if it's all worth it.

Ms.P

[Haunted]

Having had to deal with this for YEARS I learned:

A. NEVER TURN YOUR BACK, EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU LOOK LIKE A FATHEAD WALKING BACKWARDS TO THE DOORWAY

B. ALWAYS KEEP THE EXIT AT YOUR BACK

C. CALL SECURITY IMMEDIATELY

D. IF THAT DOESN'T HELP, CALL THE POLICE

Learn to duck! It can happen in any profession or anywhere.