Posted on 07/07/2008 10:39:50 PM PDT by neverdem
Karen Coughlin, a psychiatric nurse in Taunton, Mass., remembers the evening four years ago when her 14-year-old son asked her if any patients had tried to kill her that day.
“I was astounded, but he was serious because he’d heard about co-workers going to the hospital for injuries,” Ms. Coughlin said. “I’ve been hit, I’ve been kicked and spit on. I’ve had a knife pulled on me. I love what I do and many of the patients I work with, but I don’t love the conditions I work in.”
Three years ago, an enraged patient — 6 feet 4 inches and 275 pounds — smacked another patient, bit a health aide, threatened to kill Ms. Coughlin and lunged forward to strike her. He was restrained before he reached her.
“I really thought that my life was in danger,” she said. “It was probably the most terrified I’ve been in my 24 years of nursing.”
In recent years, nurses like Ms. Coughlin have sounded the alarm about workplace violence, most of it committed by patients. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, half of all nonfatal injuries resulting from workplace assaults occur in health care and social service settings.
Nurses and other personal care workers bear the brunt of such attacks, with 25 injuries annually resulting in days off from work for every 10,000 full-time workers — 12 times the rate of the overall private sector, according to the bureau. The most dangerous settings are psychiatric units and nursing homes, where patients are often confused, disoriented or suffering from mental ailments, as well as emergency rooms, where long waits for care can anger patients, and the people with them.
The level of violence may well be higher, since the government figures include only the most serious incidents...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It goes with the job. You have to learn how to try to calm people down.
Some people just can’t be handled with words alone, that’s why medical facilities used to have big burly orderlies to keep things from getting out of hand.
I have to wonder if they are still there or if they’ve been down sized and affirmative actioned out of existence?
There are no professionals I have more admiration for than nurses, they are the heart and soul of any medical facility while taking all the crap (literally) day in and day out. I couldn’t do it and I respect beyond words those who can.
“It goes with the job. You have to learn how to try to calm people down.”
Yes, that works so well when the patient is in full blown DTs. I’ve been bitten, punched, and kicked by people in DTs. I’ve seen 5’2” women have to be restrained by 4 men so I could give her an injection of a sedative. Show me a nurse that believes every patient can be calmly talked down and I’ll show you a nurse that has very little experience with psych patients.
Well said. Anyone who believes that all of these patients, including tweaked out crack heads, heroine addicts, violent bipolar sufferrers, etc. can be “talked down” is just plain ignorant.
I know. It’s not just talking. I didn’t post what I was trying to say as well as I wanted to.
These are difficult patients and may require being taken down but if you look at injuries they probably account for very few. These guys are scary and you are prepared. Sweet little old grannys can catch you off guard and deck you hard enough to see stars too:’)
“Some people just can’t be handled with words alone, that’s why medical facilities used to have big burly orderlies to keep things from getting out of hand.
I have to wonder if they are still there or if they’ve been down sized and affirmative actioned out of existence?
There are no professionals I have more admiration for than nurses, they are the heart and soul of any medical facility while taking all the crap (literally) day in and day out. I couldn’t do it and I respect beyond words those who can.”
Where I work, we have a few strong guys around,called the Lift/Ambulation Team, but they’ve started cutting back on them. That has led to the new call “Any male staff report to room X”. If it’s in my area and I can go, I go. We have a number of male RNs now, too, which helps. I’ve had my share of attempts to injure me by deranged or demented patients. Thank goodness for the training I got in my police reserve academy classes.
That’s one of the reasons OR nursing is so good. Out for the count patients are seldom a problem.
Yep, I’d calm ‘em down....with a .357 Magnum.
“You have to learn how to try to calm people down.
A “there, there,” doesn’t work with crackheads, psychotics, or violent offenders.
~Neither does restraints sometimes.
etomidate, followed with vecurion or succinyl choline and then propofol infusion.
If you FEEL like it...well then you can put a tube in their airway and let the ventilator breathe for them...or not.
I worked as an aide in a psych hospital in the mid-80’s when I was going to nursing school. Back then, the RN was allowed to judiciously use chemical or mechanical restraints. Although it’s been almost 20 years since I worked in psych, from what I understand, restraints are rarely, if ever used.
While in that job, I’ve seen my share of violent patients, like the coke addict who was psychotic, and broke out of DOUBLE 4 point leather restraints (VERY SCARY). I can’t imagine not having restraints as a backup.
ABSOLUTELY! I would also add that the same goes for the visitors to the psych unit as well.
“These are difficult patients and may require being taken down but if you look at injuries they probably account for very few.”
Good point.
“These guys are scary and you are prepared.”
Yup, preparation is key in any potential confrontation, be it verbal or physical. Esp. key in keeping that “potential” from escaliting to “actual.” Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible.
“Sweet little old grannys can catch you off guard and deck you hard enough to see stars too:’)”
Falls under the “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” rubric. And man, some of those grannies have a LOT of fight!
I also once say a 110 lb man-child whacked out on something (crack? meth? speed?) literally throw around two 180 lb. plus grown men like rag dolls. Took four of them, one for each limb, to pin him down until the cops arrived. He probably tore half the muscles in his body in the process, but he was almost super-human in his strength, and also totally irrational. Scary, VERY scary.
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