Unexpected Violence in the Workplace

[Lemon Merchant]

May the 12th was International Nurse's Day. One of the keynotes in the discussion here in Canada is how to stop workplace violence. One of the aspects of nursing that often flies under the radar are the number of physical, verbal, and sexual assaults that nurses must deal with on a day to day basis. A nurse is more likely to be physically assaulted than a police or corrections officer on any given day.

For example (in Canada):

1. 52% of Manitoba’s nurses have been physically assaulted, 17% have dealt with an individual with a weapon, and another 76% have been verbally abused; 37% of nurses working in psychiatric units, and 30% of ER nurses experience physical violence at least once per week. *

2. 54% of Ontario nurses have experienced physical abuse; 85% experienced verbal abuse, and 19% have experienced sexual violence or abuse. *

In my own work as a nurse, I have had my nose and jaw broken, my shoulder dislocated, and a skull fracture at various times throughout my career, not to mention the days where I have just gotten a severe beating before security could help. Granted, for the majority of my life I worked in a lock down ward in a mental institution, which are inherently more dangerous than a standard hospital. The point, however, is that nurses are subject to some of the highest rates of on the job physical violence in the work sector and they are finally speaking up.

Which leads me to the question: Are there other occupations where people are unaware that there is a high risk to workers from physical/emotional violence?

By the way, nurses in Canada were celebrating the whole week last week as Nursing Week. If you know a nurse and forgot to give her a hug and tell him/her s/he's valuable, you still have time. We accept thoughtful, well intentioned hugs any time (just ask first).

* https://nursesunions.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/CFNU_Enough-is-Enough_June1_FINALlow.pdf

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Restaurants are filled with verbal abuse and sexual harassment almost as a rule.

I was unfortunate to have worked at a restaurant where one of our servers locked his coworker in his basement for a few days and abused her.

I had one boss that sexually harassed his employees under aged employees in especially vulgar ways and another boss that threw pots and pans at his employees.

Literally every place I worked at was like that.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Taking the reasoning of the average police apologist and applying it based on those statistics nurses would be reacting appropriately if they immediately shot every patient that wasn't immobilized in self defense, and doctors along with them.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm... It is just the jerkish behavior from time to time, in the writing world.
Sometimes from the other person too

 

[NovaKart]

I suppose if it’s happening in a mental hospital in particular then it’s difficult to prevent and would sometimes lead to questions of how responsible the patient is for his or her actions - I guess I’m stating the obvious here.

I remember something - and not the details - about a hugely obese patient who was abusive with the nurses and eventually was kicked out of the hospital after sneak ordering a pizza. I think they were sick of his behavior and his not cooperating with treatment was the last straw.

 

[Bamspeedy]

My wife was a nursing assistant at a nursing home and the mental wing was the worst (thankfully it was not a 'lock down' ward that is more dangerous). Patient hits you and all you can do is take the beating and report the event. I didn't hear of it happening too much, though, but just the thought it could happen was frustrating. Sure, 90 year old people can't deal too much damage (without weapons), but still, being hit, slapped, pinched, whatever with little to no recourse, it's still violence.
The thing that she hated the most was the false accusations. A patient can make up whatever lies they want about you and you can still be suspended during the investigation and it will stay on your file. The file will say you were cleared (assuming you are), but still the thought that it is still on her record and then when others make accusations she feared one day it would be "We now think there may have been something to these accusations since you have had 'multiple' accusations made against you. She was paid during her suspension, which I tried to get her to realize was a good thing and enjoy the time off, but still the tarnish to her name infuriated her and one of the reasons she took a pay cut to go in a different career.
The one made against her just came out of nowhere, and she thinks the woman said it because my wife is not white. If she said my wife hit her after she hit my wife, maybe that would have been believable, but saying my wife threw this bigger woman up against a wall for no reason just isn't believable to anybody. Her co-workers were going to walk off the job had the investigation gone against her because they knew it didn't happen and couldn't have happened.

Edit: I have heard ads on the radio about reporting 'elder abuse' in nursing homes. No doubt, it does happen and those cases need to be reported, but also many old folks do not want to be in a nursing home and will claim abuse so their relatives will pull them out of there and take them home (is what they are hoping when making the claims, but much to the patient's dismay the relatives may just try another nursing home)

 

[Thorgalaeg]

There is heavy policial presence where i work so the slightest attempt to violence will be supressed by brutal policial violence.

 

[Synobun]

Those figures for violence and abuse against nurses seem low, given that they're often the first and only line of defense with patient intake and then bed maintenance.

 

[Morty]

my wife is a nurse on an elderly care/dementia ward - they may be losing their faculties but not necessarily their strength. Dodging random blows appears to be an occupational hazard!

18 months on that ward so far, and only(!) 1 broken wrist to show for it!!

In my own workplace I just want to punch the occasional co-worker.... I guess that doesn't count!!??

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I think you'll be hard pressed to find many vocations that have as much prevalence as nurses get. Patients have some selection bias, but usually if you need to be in-patient you're under duress. Mostly-stable are likely to be less so.

I don't know what violent patients think they'll accomplish. Some of them aren't thinking much at all, granted, but for those that still have their sanity it's perplexing how many people will take a bad situation for themselves and make it worse.

I've had the fortune of working at places where violence is pretty unlikely.

I remember something - and not the details - about a hugely obese patient who was abusive with the nurses and eventually was kicked out of the hospital after sneak ordering a pizza. I think they were sick of his behavior and his not cooperating with treatment was the last straw.

On the other hand, sometimes doing their job can make the patient's experience pretty miserable. Constant blood pressure/vitals (sometimes missing that someone else just did it), spamming repeat questions patient just answered 30-60 minutes ago and had answered multiple times even before that (including things that won't change, like what you ate leading up to the incident or whether you've had episodes like this previously. Does this really need to be asked 5x in 12 hours? It's not like birthday which they use for verification), repeatedly waking people up to check them or do medications.

Some of the necessary stuff coupled with the unnecessary stuff can make it frustrating and exhausting for someone who is already well out of their routine and likely physically suffering in one regard or another. If you're a well adjusted person, you can suck it up and maybe if you're lucky get someone to look at the answer you gave 60 minutes ago. If someone isn't, perhaps hospitals are a bit too willing to still help.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, i wasn't aware that psychological clinic ward physical violence was quite that high... What with medication and that most mental patients aren't inclined to violence more than the average person.

That said, there is the well-known phenomenon of the patient becoming "institutionalized" (not sure if that is the english term used) ; ie losing much tie to life outside of the setting of the institution.

 

[rah]

I always figured Nurses had it bad, but this thread has raised it to a new level.

I was an alter boy at a catholic church growing up. Fortunately I had a twin brother with me most of the time so it limited the opportunities of abuse.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Those figures for violence and abuse against nurses seem low, given that they're often the first and only line of defense with patient intake and then bed maintenance.

They probably are low, as many of the incidents go unreported. You don't usually report pushing, shoving, and the occasional cuff across the head, or just a general slap. Unless you get something like a black eye from it. Normally what happens in the case of excessive contact is that the patient will find him or herself buried under a pile of nurses with a needle of thorazine or Haldol in their butts to calm them down.

On the other hand, sometimes doing their job can make the patient's experience pretty miserable. Constant blood pressure/vitals (sometimes missing that someone else just did it), spamming repeat questions patient just answered 30-60 minutes ago and had answered multiple times even before that (including things that won't change, like what you ate leading up to the incident or whether you've had episodes like this previously. Does this really need to be asked 5x in 12 hours? It's not like birthday which they use for verification), repeatedly waking people up to check them or do medications.

1. We ask patients things several times to make sure that A) their answers are consistent; B) they are lucid and functional, especially in the case of a head injury.
2. Waking a sleeping patient to check on them is important, especially if they have had a head injury or are on suicide watch, or have a heart related issue. Also, waking a patient to give them a sleeping pill or other meds keeps the medication regimen on time for maximum effectiveness, and in the case of sleeping pills, it means the patient will not wake up halfway through the night and disturb other patients.

But yes, having been in the hospital at various times myself as a patient, I agree that it gets annoying. Even when you understand the reasons why.

Hm, i wasn't aware that psychological clinic ward physical violence was quite that high... What with medication and that most mental patients aren't inclined to violence more than the average person.

Mental institutions are where you would likely find the most on the job violence for nurses (and doctors too). At our hospital the nurses were encouraged to take martial arts classes so that we could defend ourselves in life threatening situations, or at least escape one. When you have an enraged 200 lb schizophrenic coming at you, you need to be able to disable him/her long enough to get away if you have to. The use of martial arts is not encouraged in a patient setting, it was a last resort, but it saved the lives of more than a few nurses in my hospital. The thing about mental hospitals is this: most of the patients are numbed by medication and are pretty docile, in the standard nursing units, but some can occasionally act violently. It's always a danger when mingling with patients. A lock ward resembles a maximum security prison. The patients are violent, difficult, and some are incredibly sadistic. Hannibal Lechter was a pussy cat compared to some patients in the real world. They are kept behind locked doors. There is no treatment for these poor souls. It's maintenance only. They are kept locked up for their own safety and the safety of others, and so they are not drawing anagrams on the walls in a nurse's blood. It's a scary world in there. Any patient can go off on you, medicated or not, and it happens more than you think. My cracked skull was the result of turning my back on a "usually docile" patient who decided that hitting me in the head with a chair might be a fun thing to do. And as mental patients tend to do when they find something fun or funny, he enjoyed himself with the chair a few times ( apparently, I was unconscious) until a couple of the other nurses restrained him. The other patients were egging him on.

So yes, some of them are prone to violence even though they are medicated.

 

[Zkribbler]

I always figured Nurses had it bad, but this thread has raised it to a new level.

Nurses are among my favorite people.

 

[Morty]

There's an article on the BBC today about violence towards staff in hospitals - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44111627

I wont quote large chunks of the article, just this bit:-

"........The situation has got so bad - more than 70,000 NHS staff are assaulted every year......"

 

[Kyriakos]

They probably are low, as many of the incidents go unreported. You don't usually report pushing, shoving, and the occasional cuff across the head, or just a general slap. Unless you get something like a black eye from it. Normally what happens in the case of excessive contact is that the patient will find him or herself buried under a pile of nurses with a needle of thorazine or Haldol in their butts to calm them down.



1. We ask patients things several times to make sure that A) their answers are consistent; B) they are lucid and functional, especially in the case of a head injury.
2. Waking a sleeping patient to check on them is important, especially if they have had a head injury or are on suicide watch, or have a heart related issue. Also, waking a patient to give them a sleeping pill or other meds keeps the medication regimen on time for maximum effectiveness, and in the case of sleeping pills, it means the patient will not wake up halfway through the night and disturb other patients.

But yes, having been in the hospital at various times myself as a patient, I agree that it gets annoying. Even when you understand the reasons why.


Mental institutions are where you would likely find the most on the job violence for nurses (and doctors too). At our hospital the nurses were encouraged to take martial arts classes so that we could defend ourselves in life threatening situations, or at least escape one. When you have an enraged 200 lb schizophrenic coming at you, you need to be able to disable him/her long enough to get away if you have to. The use of martial arts is not encouraged in a patient setting, it was a last resort, but it saved the lives of more than a few nurses in my hospital. The thing about mental hospitals is this: most of the patients are numbed by medication and are pretty docile, in the standard nursing units, but some can occasionally act violently. It's always a danger when mingling with patients. A lock ward resembles a maximum security prison. The patients are violent, difficult, and some are incredibly sadistic. Hannibal Lechter was a pussy cat compared to some patients in the real world. They are kept behind locked doors. There is no treatment for these poor souls. It's maintenance only. They are kept locked up for their own safety and the safety of others, and so they are not drawing anagrams on the walls in a nurse's blood. It's a scary world in there. Any patient can go off on you, medicated or not, and it happens more than you think. My cracked skull was the result of turning my back on a "usually docile" patient who decided that hitting me in the head with a chair might be a fun thing to do. And as mental patients tend to do when they find something fun or funny, he enjoyed himself with the chair a few times ( apparently, I was unconscious) until a couple of the other nurses restrained him. The other patients were egging him on.

So yes, some of them are prone to violence even though they are medicated.

Wow.
So this is like in that movie, Bronson

 

[gozpel]

My wife is working in a dementia facility too, and has for 15 years. She get all kind of abuse, but also love for her persistence to do the better good. She is highly valued.

Then she comes home and meet me, and have to start it all over again!

And no, I'm not abusive, just half drunk... .

 

[TheMeInTeam]

A) their answers are consistent; B) they are lucid and functional, especially in the case of a head injury.

I'm aware, but it can get excessive, especially in cases where we're talking monitoring, other questions are being asked, and we're on 15th+ time. Probably the worst though was the "all tests are negative so far", one physician talking about discharge, then still being there 12 hours later with nobody able to actually state the reason.

None of this sensibly involves violence, but I can see how someone who isn't well-adjusted might not react rationally when they're being held an entire day without anybody being capable of telling them why despite asking. Especially when transport screws up and a test happens 4 hours later than they said it would because "they couldn't find you". There are major logistics and communications issues in a setting where people are not in their best condition. A lot of this has nothing to do with the nurses themselves, yet they catch the brunt of it. It's a poor setup systemically.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

You've obviously never worked in the chaos of an ER, TMIT.

 

[gozpel]

TMIT, you are the cause of many of ppl ending up in different hospels, because they can't believe what they have been doing all this time is wrong! I throw a bless on me every time I read one of your posts, and get a save, but other ppl either takes your word as the truth or deny it. It is always fun reading, as you understand the game mechs better than many. But don't forget those poor souls who never understand you, I did fortunately and with the bless I never decided to counter you. No reason to.

IF we could this place a workplace?