Assault
Posted by realityrounds on October 13, 2009
A labor and delivery nurse in Utah was recently assaulted by the male partner of her laboring patient. Adam Manning allegedly grabbed the nurse’s neck, and then proceeded to fondle her breasts as she attempted to care for the woman carrying his child. The victimized nurse promptly called police, and Mr. Manning was arrested and booked for charges of felony forcible sexual abuse.
This story is appalling on so many levels, but it is not surprising, and it is not rare. What is rare is that the nurse called police, and that a “patient” was charged with assault on a nurse. Hey, the patient/visitor is always right, and being assaulted is just part of our jobs as nurses right? We know what we signed up for. WRONG!
Study after study indicates that it is very common for nurses to have been assaulted on the job by a patient or hospital visitor. This includes physical, sexual and verbal assault. Nurses working in long-term care facilities, emergency rooms and psychiatric floors report the most occurrences of assault. But let me tell you, it happens everywhere, even in Labor and Delivery as the above link shows.
When I look back on my career as a nurse, I can tell you that yes, I have been assaulted on the job. I have been kicked in the stomach by a patient, I have had a drawer thrown at my head, I have been pinched, bitten, spit at, and thrown to the ground by a patient. I have been called derogatory names not worth typing. I have been threatened with physical violence more times than I can count. I have encountered visitors brandishing guns, and knives to the unit and making threatening gestures. All of this while trying to do a job that helps and heals others. Ironic huh?
There are many explanations as to why nurses face violence in the workplace. We are the health care workers who are the most intimately involved with our patients. We are there, at the bedside, and physically present with patients more of the time. We are involved with human beings in some of the most stressful times of their lives. We are involved with human beings who have mental illnesses and drug abuse problems. We are involved with human beings who can be just plain, old-fashioned idiots. We are mostly women. We are easy targets.
I have been a nurse for 16 years, and anecdotally for me, it seems like the utter disrespect and resentment of nurses (and other health care workers), is on the rise. Maybe I am just suffering burnout. Maybe the longer I am in this game, the smaller my tolerance is for being treated like a slave or non-human by total strangers who I am carrying for. Maybe for me, this article on the nurse being assaulted on the job, makes me overly sensitive to the garbage we face every day as nurses.
*Maybe I need a new career. Cabaret singer? Locksmith? Cage fighter? Circus clown?…the choices are endless*
RR
MomTFH said
I love thinking of back up jobs. If I had to start over, I would either be a stand up comedian for bar mitzvahs (my humor is generally at about the 13 yr old level) or a contestant on the The Next Food Network Star.
I think if you were a cage match fighter, you would still be attacked. But, at least it would be part of the job description.
I shouldn’t be making light of the post. It’s a terrible shame. I think it’s a strange intersection between people in a hospital setting. It’s too bad nurses have to bear the brunt of the hard work of the interface.
Erin said
I’ve only been a nurse for a year (and worked as a tech on a neuro floor for 2 years before that), but I have already heard way to many stories of verbal abuse/assault from too many people. Oftentimes I can rationalize a person’s verbal assault because of the stressful situation a hospitalization places a family/patient in, but sometimes it is JUST too much! And in the situation you described above… I just can’t think of any other explanation but being an absolute jerk.
Sean said
It’s frustrating and disheartening to hear. I am very aware of it’s presence and if it was be being assaulted I’d be the first to report! I do hope you are just having a ‘moment’ and not seriously considering leaving our wonderful profession.
I too have those bad days… and I’ve only been around a fraction of the time.
((hug))
lpnmon said
When I was feeling burnt out, I took a sabbatical and worked at a grocery store for a few months. I returned feeling like I loved my job again.
Be careful out there, all you nurses! RR, make sure you take care of yourself too!
Michelle said
Go with Cage Fighter. Then everyone expects you to punch back.
Akiko said
The only 2 reasons nurses are assaulted is that they are mostly women and people see helping others as weakness.
M'Lynn said
I like the OR. Chemicals for the win.
Joy said
That is definitely scary!
pinky said
I think I want to work at Starbucks. I like the music and the mood of the place. I also like coffee and snacks. Yes, Starbucks it is!
Sarah said
Haha….this is my fantasy job when nursing is getting too much. The baristas at my Starbucks always seem so happy to be at work.
Unlike my co-workers sometimes.
Micki said
LOL There are angry people in my line of work too. One perk is that at least there is a counter between you and the customer but then there’s the fear of the hot liquid you hand out. Hmmm def don’t think it would be worth the paycut you guys would have to take.
~ Starbucks Barista
mommymichael said
That’s appalling.
OT:
My father was a paramedic for 27 years (retired last year finally!) He was amazing and my personal hero, but I can’t tell you how many times he would tell me stories of people assaulting him as he tried to help him. Never sexually, but always verbally and physically.
One woman who had as a patient overdosed on a street drug would try and seduce him, then spew horrible curse words because he’d turned her down. She finally reached out and started wailing on him. So he pressed charges for assaulting a public officer.
This one has a happy ending though. Turns out, because he’d pressed charges, she’d been sent to jail and from that turned her life around. She came back a few years later and thanked him saying that if he hadn’t taken a stand against her/for her she probably would have wound up dead.
RehabRN said
I thank my lucky stars that most of my patients cannot move their hands and/or legs, which eliminates most of the physical abuse. (I do watch out for electric wheelchairs when they’re up, though).
It doesn’t stop verbal and psychological abuse. That’s where I’ve adopted coping strategies, such as time-outs (I leave the room for a few minutes) or if I have to stay, I try to use imagery about being somewhere else.
I have yet had a reason to file charges against anyone, but I would if I had to. No one takes you seriously if you don’t do something about the behavior.
Paula said
Just found your blog, and I love reading it! I’ve always been in public jobs, too, and I relate to what you’re saying.
Having recently been thrust into the job of primary caretaker for my father after his stroke, and nearly at the same time is a secondary caretaker for my mother after a heart attack, I can tell you that the level of disrespect I have experienced from nurses in geriatric practice has been appalling. Not universally, no, but I would say that 60% of the nurses I encountered while getting my father ER and post hospitalization follow-up were incredibly rude to me, treating me as though I personally gave him a stroke, or assuming that I must be abusing him.
Just wanted to put that out there. Again, I have had nothing but the utmost respect for nurses, especially pediatric nurses.