Taking Patients down in the ER

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

I don't know about ya'll, but truthfully. I'm not as young as I used to be. And it isnt as easy for me as it used to be to be able to take patients down in the ER. When these patients under the influence of, drugs, alcohol, Behavioral problems, Psychiatric disorders escalate their behaviour to a disruptive, threatening, even combative state. Even with assitance, Im getting a little to old for this. I can still do it. But I get damaged easier and take longer to heal. I have a few bruises from my last one. Im sure glad when the Geodon and Lorazepam kick in.

[babynurselsa, RN]

Amen Tom. I try to be very alert for signs of a patient starting to go in that direction so that I get help closeby. (I am only 5'1") I discovered years ago that I do not like bouncing off of walls.

Thank GOd gor Geodon

[Noryn]

I worked in the ER for a few years and finally had enough. It was getting to the point that almost every Friday or Saturday night I was getting beat on by an overdose or intoxicated person.

So I get frustrated when I see posters second guess staff when they are dealing with violent or unstable patients. I wish our guards had Taser guns, you know I may still be working in the ER. Taking someone down isnt always perfect especially when you work at an ER with limited resources. People pay no attention to the fact that staff members can be severely injured by these patients, they just want to shout, "inappropriate use of force!"

Ultimately I just see no reason why I should put my safety on the line. If I get injured I wont be able to take care of anyone. But I left the ER for a desk job and honestly havent had back pain since.

[trainer2070]

A couple of months ago we got called to the ED stat for an extremely aggitated individual that the Dr ordered a leather 4 point on. Long story short, I had a new security officer with me that didn't know how to restrain people. The guy started swinging on me so I had to take the guy down to the ground and had him in a wrist lock with my knee on his head so he couldnt move. PD came in with someone to get medical clearance, so one of them came over to assist me. We got the guy up and he spit on the officer and started swinging again. So at this point the guy had already hit one nurse, ie the reason we got called to begin with, swung on me and spit on an officer. My partner switched out with the other officer who was still with the guy they brought in, so it was me and 2 PD officers. We finally got the guy 4 pointed and I go out of the room and there are 2 nursing students standing there. And they were complaining to the charge nurse and their preceptor about how physical we were with the guy.

I gave them a break for being students and not having been in a similiar situation before. But a guy whose willing to take on and swing on 2 hospital security officers, spit on a cop and throw more punches and kicks when its me and 2 PD officers won't think twice to swing on a nurse. Fortunately, the staff member that was hit before we got there wasn't injured. The rest of the shift everytime I walked by one of the students they just gave me that look. One of these days theyll understand.

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Fortunately I work in an ER that takes safety very seriously. I pretty much keep my "weird" patients at arm length. Security is called on every combative, or possibly combative, and every psych patient. RNs whether male or female are not expected to take down patients. Our security is trained in medical takedowns and I actually step out of the room when this needs to occur. Thank god we have not had hardly any injuries in a long time. A while ago one of our clerks got punched in the face for trying to quide a drunk to the right door. Sad. Permanent eye damage.

Stay safe Tom, we would miss your posts

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Tom, just bring your golf clubs to work.

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Tom, just bring your golf clubs to work.

I would hate to damage my golf clubs

[bigsyis]

I would hate to damage my golf clubs

Tom, I'm just learning to play golf, but I can already see why you have such a soft spot for it. I'm with you-no sense messing up good clubs.

[BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

WOW,..we are always complaining about security issues in our ER,..but maybe we don't have it so bad,.we have security 24/7, usually 3 of them,.they are also commisioned officers for either the city or the county,.they carry cuffs, guns and tasers and they use them!!!! I my safety and that of the other pts is a number one priority,..keep safe everyone!!!!

[PedsER-RN, BSN, RN]

I would hate to damage my golf clubs

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[bigjim]

I worked in the ER for a few years and finally had enough. It was getting to the point that almost every Friday or Saturday night I was getting beat on by an overdose or intoxicated person.

So I get frustrated when I see posters second guess staff when they are dealing with violent or unstable patients. I wish our guards had Taser guns, you know I may still be working in the ER. Taking someone down isnt always perfect especially when you work at an ER with limited resources. People pay no attention to the fact that staff members can be severely injured by these patients, they just want to shout, "inappropriate use of force!"

Ultimately I just see no reason why I should put my safety on the line. If I get injured I wont be able to take care of anyone. But I left the ER for a desk job and honestly havent had back pain since.

I have no idea why some people are so quick to defend a criminal who commits assault and battery, and then try to demonize or even prosecute the victim for defending themself.

Personally, I will stop anyone who assaults me, on the job or off. I will use necessary force only, but I will use as much force is needed to make sure that I go home safe every shift and so do the rest of the good guys.

[edprincess]

And now you know why I wanted Ativan and Haldol in blow-darts. No close contact, no injuries . I thought it was a good idea but appartently the higher-ups didn't.