NursingLink

A recent study suggests that one-third of nurses working in hospitals or long-term care facilities were physically abused by patients in a one-year period. Have you ever been abused by a patient? Click here to read about the study.

Which time? LOL, I could probably fill a book with all of the times!

YES I HAVE BEEN ABUSED BY PATIENT BUT BECAUSE IM DEALING WITH THEM POLITELY AND CONTROLING MY TEMPER AND I DONT REPLY THEM  THE PATIENTS COMMING TO SAY  SORRY FOR ME AND ALL OF THEM LIKES ME AND ASKING ABOUT ME IF IM IN MY DAY OFF.

I was struck, kicked, spat at and cursed out more as an RN than I ever was as a police officer...

Of course, I worked mostly psych and long term care.                                    

i think my eardrums have exploded already. i have the feeling that it's normal for patients to talk louder when they're health is in bad shape.

Of course I've been hit by agitated, confused patients.  I've found through practicing how best to calm them down and avoid being hit, but as the summary of research says, it happens mostly when I don't have the time to work it out.  My daughter had her wrist broken by a patient the first week she was an R.N.  She wasn't rushing or doing anything wrong.  The Alzheimer's patient just decided to twist her arm and he was very strong.  You can't always prevent abuse.

Few nurses/ or staff I know, has at one time or the other been kicked, bite, cussed, snacked, knocked down, run over with power chairs..It must just go with the job. Patients are angry and take it out on the first person to cross their path...

In home health..................old hag sicked her tacobell dog on me.  I got bit, the agency <they do have policy that for ANY injury except a needle stick you have to have a drug test.   Im like WTH, Im going out to the boonies for a scheduled dig level and she sicked little suzy on me and I get a drug test.   I dont care about peeing in a cup.............but they told me I had to drive to the hospital 30 miles away for it immediatly.  Since I was paid per visit, I missed my last 2 scheduled visits.  Nobody that was scheduled was for an assessment visit and it got moved for the next day..................that's my fricken money I was mad about.   Um..............she had been warned previously that she had to have the beast locked up when a nurse or therapist was going to see her for a visit.   The administrator discharged her for the safety thing.   I was also threatened by a diabetic who was an alcoholic that he would throw his dictionary at me for calling the md because his bs was over 500 <our accuchecks wouldnt go over 500>.   Man, I miss home health!    Funnest job I ever had with the exception of the dog bitting.   My feelings were hurt more than my hand that got bit..............I mean I LOVE dogs..........dogs love me, how could a dog ever want to bite me?   That was 5 years ago and it still makes me sad.   I once had a guys open his end table drawer so I could  see his gun.   I got my bag, said I have to get something out of my car...............that little pontiac burned rubber flyin out of his driveway. 

I WAS ALSO ABUSED BY A NURSE WHEN I WAS A CNA, SHE TOLD ME TO FEED THIS MAN , OK, IT'S IN MY JOB REQUIRMENT RIGHT? WELL THIS GUY HAD ASPERATION PROBLEMS, SHE NEW IT, I DIDN'T WELL THE MAN DIED, SHE KIDDING TOLD EVERYONE I KILLED HIM, I CRIED, FELT SO BAD, DIDN'T WORK FOR A WEEK, FROM THEN ON I WOULD READ THE PATIENTS CHART, THEN AGAIN ANOTHER ASIAN NURSE ASKED ME TO FEED THIS PERSON WHO HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS I REFUSED AND TOLD HER TO DO IT THAT I DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH IT, AND SORRY TO SAY THIS ,BUT AFTER THE WAY SOME NURSES TREAT THE CNA'S  WHO WANT TO BECOME A NURSE CAN ACTUALLY DESTROY THEIR DESIRE. i BELIVE ALL NURSES SHOULD BE A CNA FOR A YEAR BEFORE THEY TRY TO BECOME A REAL NURSE.

oh most definitely! lol...on a daily basis......scratched from 1 in particular where she will not only scratch but if given a good hold, will and has tried to rip my clothes off and digs her nails into my flesh.....I have had chairs thrown at me, been cursed and called everything but a white woman.....lol....I could definitely write a book.......does anyone feel like I do and say I am too old for this nonsense? lol 

I have had patients spit at me, throw urine and feces, throw dirty briefs, hit, and kick, and that not counting all the verbal abuse. I think as nurses  we are the targets of abuse because patients are facing difficult times and they may not know how to cope.

It's a great disservice to all of the rest of nursing to present this problem as only happening to emergency room nurses. I've only worked in an emergency room for one shift in my career (and it was an easy day), but I"ve been hit, slapped, spit on, peed on, pooped on, vomitted on, bled on, cursed out, screamed at,threatened, grabbed, had dirty needles thrown at me, been kicked, bit,mocked, belittled, insulted, etc.....None of which was fun, all of which was traumatic on some level, and none of which was reportable to anyone at all---well the hitting, kicking, and biting were, but in most hospitals, the nursing administration instantly goes to why it was the nurse's fault....because then their tails are covered.... Until nurses actually learn to take care of themselves, nursing will continue to burn newcomers out faster than they can be produced. I've been a nurse a long time, and you would not believe the number of nurses with one year of experience who look at me and ask me how in the world I stayed in nursing, because all they want already is to be OUT. Why is it that nursing isn't smart enough to solve it's own problems. It grieves me.

Most of the abuse comes from either psych patients, drunk patients, patients on drugs or patients that are not cognitive.  It is part of the job, and it always will be.  Nurses just need to be aware of this and protect themselves.  Be on the defensive when you need to be.  NEVER be afraid to walk away from a patient and ask for help.  FEMALE nurses-sometimes you might need a man's strength to help control a patient.  WE had a a patient in the ER who was on narcotics.  I was thought I could handle this guy.  WRONG.  He was out of control and nearly hit me, but I realized the danger of this situation and a male nurse stepped in and handled it.  A dead nurse isn't much help to anyone.  My best advice...try to stay alive while treating any patient. 

I work on a geriatric unit that specializes in patients 75 and older. Many are in some stage of dementia and strike out fairly often. Even though I know they do not know what they are doing most of the time, it is also very surprising when it catches you off guard. I always go into a patients room with the fact that they might lash out in the back of my mind. Most times it can be stopped and controlled.

As an after thought....isn't it amazing how much strength an 80 year old woman can muster.

I've never had anyone physically abuse me, but I've been called some lovely names and treated like something they'd scrape off the bottom of their shoe.

The last place I worked at, the RN treated all the caregivers like crap.  She once hunted me down for ten minutes to fix a woman's bed.  The blanket needed to be moved over an inch and took me two minutes to fix.  Funny part is, the woman had no problem with the bed.