The Hospital - A Place of Danger?

[EyesForward]

When I was a kid my mom gave us a bath before going to the doctor, and all she had to do was look at us a certain way for us to sit on the paper-covered table in quiet and reverent obedience. So, it never occurred to me the sort of barbaric behaviour that occurs at the hospital, a place I considered as worthy of respect as church. That is, until I started working there myself. Dr. Strong is consulted frequently in the hospital where, for example, last night an angry parent who threatened to "__ck you up" was escorted out of the PICU by the law. He didn't like the policy of only one parent in the PICU overnight, so he yelled obscenities at the nurse, and got in his face with a fist, and wouldn't budge. He said he would mess the nurse up bad, and that's when the cops were called. A few months ago an inmate was allowed to go to the bathroom on a med-surg floor, and when he was finished he wouldn't go back to bed. Instead he approached the cop watching him, and after several warnings was shot (I said SHOT!) by the officer in the leg. Even yesterday I kept close eye on the guy I was drawing in ER, who was drunk, angry, and in pain. He had those "don't you hurt me" eyes, and I got the message loud and clear. I don't know what I'm trying to say with these stories, but student...listen up. It's not the same world it was when I was little, when hospitals, doctors, and nurses were protected by the gentle arm of respect. And I don't live in New York, Detroit, or L.A. This is small town stuff, folks!

[Katnip, RN]

These things are happening everywhere in almost every profession. It's a sign of the general lack of respect people have for others and a growing "me first" attitude.

[live4today, RN]

EyesForward....you and I were raised in the same generation. Today, one has to look long and hard to find the respectful manners we were up against as children. I think society has given permission to mankind to "do your own thing", "say what you want to say...it's freedom of speech", and so forth. We see it in nursing because we work in nursing, but it's just not limited to healthcare environments, it's in all of society and in every place of employment today. Sad, but true. Scary too.