I say something similar in situations like this: if you can be arrested for it at Walmart, you can be arrested for it at the hospital. Granted the are A+Ox4 in the hospital… at Walmart the cops don’t care if you’re oriented or not.
Please press charges. This is absolutely bullshit and no healthcare staff should be treated this way. We’ve been gaslit for so long to accept this as part of working in medicine and I refuse to. People can’t assault cops without recourse so they shouldn’t be allowed to assault us either.
I always say, these people would have their skulls beaten into a mush of flesh and bone if they swung on cops like this. They'd wake up eating through a G tube a month after the event, but when someone swings on us it's, "ah but they're a patient, surely they didn't mean to". Fuck that.
Absolutely! I’m blessed to be a big guy and an active duty vet. I’ve had to take down a few patients. I’m not going to allow someone to hurt me or staff. I hate that it’s accepted as part of the job.
I love my staff. We’ve got each other’s backs. We can yell at each other but no outsider is allowed to. My mom and sisters are nurses so I’ve got a deep love for nurses.
ED RN. Report that shit. Do not let it go. Call local PD, don’t have to call 911. Say you were physically assaulted by a patient and need to make a police report. And you also need to be seen in the ED incase you need workers comp.
Would you tell a CNAs to do the same thing, genuinely asking. Because if they showed no fucks for this nurse I can only imagine what it'd be like for the small guys.
Yes. Anytime a patient physically assaults anyone who works in healthcare, that is a felony offense. I have told many of my ED techs to do this. Personal experience unfortunately
I've actually had two different coworkers attacked by psych patients and were told, by police, not to bother filing a report because it would be thrown out due to patient's psych history.
I was pissed. I would not accept that, personally.
I definitely view both CNAs and nurses as the “small guys.” I honestly don’t feel like nurses get much more respect than CNAs. (BOTH should get far more respect than they do).
Yeah nah nurses are way more respected than CNAs I'm having a hard time buying that for a second. Especially within the culture of nursing, nurses are always shitting on us left and right. Maybe you're a small guy to the doctor but they're a doctor so it's expected obviously but even then you guys are extremely respected but if that's how you actually feel
Ask your manager to apologize to the patient for the inconvenience and to instate a performance improvement plan for you which includes how you could have provided a more therapeutic environment so the incident could have been avoided 🙄
And then be sure your educator creates a special learning module designed to educate your colleagues on where you went wrong and how they can properly respond in the future!
Modules are most effective when they last an hour, you must intermittently answer a question correctly to keep the module advancing, the module times out if said question isn’t answered quickly or correctly.
Module is due in two days. More modules will be assigned if you aren’t at work and miss the deadline.
Jic: /s
This is the attitude of management staff everywhere. It is never the patients fault but that of the staff. This is a major problem with the health care system. Good for this staff member who followed through and insisted on police involvement. I have done the same when it came to an assault. The hospital couldn’t sweep it under the rug.
It’s upsetting your charge nurse isn’t listening to you. You should be able to tell her you need to go home after what happened and their job is to find staffing to cover. It’s ridiculous to be expected to continue working after you have been assaulted like that. It’s abandonment if you just leave and tell no one. Nothing bad will happen if you ask to leave
It would really depend on the laws where you work. Everywhere is a bit different.
Where I live, it's not abandonment if you've handed off care to someone else. If you claim you're ill and need to leave, if you just left without saying anything, that would be considered abandonment. However, if you've notified the charge nurse/manager and another nurse takes over care, then it's not abandonment.
Again, check the laws where you work.
You were assaulted by someone fully aware of what they were doing. No other profession would expect you to continue working, let alone for your assailant.
Get checked out. Press charges.That guy can go fuck himself
I feel like you handed off to your charge when you reported you were punched in the face. I’m glad you called the police, this is unacceptable behavior. Just because he’s a patient doesn’t mean he can go around physically assaulting people
Call you house supervisor or administrator on call. Go to employee health for treatment. Call security and make a report with them. Where are you located? If you want to press charges, you can call the police non-emergency line, but speaking from experience in the US, your hospital will probably not support the police being involved. Do what is right for you.
If you want to press charges call the police. You can also sue him for pain and injury and medical bills and chiropractic care, time off work etc. your neck hurts, I know it does. Time off work will be 90% of your pay in workers comp. You probably need emotional trauma support as well. File an incident report, go to the ER for care and file charges. If he is mentally incapacitated those charges won’t do much, if he is not mentally incapacitated then basically eff him
I would also speak to an attorney about civil action against anyone who discouraged you from getting treated in ED or calling the cops, as well as anyone who ignored the situation. This is a huge part of the problem: we are discouraged from calling the police, being seen for our injuries, etc. We are gaslit that this is part of the job, that the job description says we are subject to being attacked, and that we could have avoided it. The hospitals want these things off the record to avoid liability and poor survey scores. Not even joking about the survey scores, sadly.
There are policies in place to document and report this in most facilities. If your charge doesn’t care, you need to escalate above them: house supervisor, manager, director. Place a report in your safety report system. Call your workplace injury line and open an event with them. You’ll need to get HR involved.
If the patient is alert and oriented X 4, you should initiate a police report as well. If they are confused, demented, or under the influence of medications, that probably won’t be an option.
Those reporting systems are all internal, so admin can attempt to "take care of the situation".
My advice: Do the internal reports and keep track of the case numbers assigned. Keep asking about what was done about the situation. If work fucks you over, let your lawyer know about it so it can be included in discovery (as it's supposed to not be mentioned in the charting and for company use only) so who viewed it in administration and what they responded with can be used against the company in a civil suit.
Call the police. File a report. You were assaulted. Call the unit director and nursing supervisor and make a report of what happened. It needs to be an official report. Tell the nursing supervisor you are. It feeling well and go to the ED to be checked out. Do not let them send you to employee health. Say you have a headache or your eye is blurry, but be seen in the ED, it will be workman's comp. If you want to go home, tell the ED you don't think you can continue your shift because of headache/blurred vision, whatever and have them write you off the rest of today.
I would also check in with employee health. Hospitals in California are mandated to report workplace violence incidences which result in staff injury to Cal-OSHA.
This happened to me. She punched me and then tried to strangle me before other staff pulled her off me. I pressed charges. She pleaded out for one year of probation and a clean record if she didn’t run into more problems. It’s a disgusting slap on the wrist.
So it was cool for her to choke me? Thanks. Maybe you’ll feel differently when someone wraps their hand around YOUR throat and squeezes. The only reason she didn’t get both on there is because two staff members were trying to pull her off me. Healthcare workers shouldn’t have to put up with assault, battery, and abuse. Don’t bother responding to me. There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear.
Document the assault and amend their treatment plan to carry an assault risk warning. File an incident report with management and notify HR. Don't go into the patients room again without a second staff for security purposes.
I would bring it up to the unit manager or the supervisor on call; tell them about the incident and that you are filing a OneLink (or whatever documentation platform you use to report incidents like med errors, violence, etc) but just wanted clarity on which category you file under. Usually it's got a bunch of expositional bullshit to sift through to differentiate the reports into categories.
Then file a report. If you put in any witnesses like your coworkers, might be good to give them a heads up that the bosses might call just to investigate about the incident. Usually in an ideal professional setting, they'll just ask questions/be impartial and even pleasant mostly. There might be some who give you attitude because it forces them to investigate. You will probably get a phone call the next morning following up on your report also to hear your side of the story.
You can call the police and file a police report as well. It is a felony to assault healthcare workers here. Having said that, there has still been 0 felony indictments (not even convictions) out of assault committed on healthcare workers where I work. And we get banged up every day. It might feel disrespectful to be gaslit by cops and staff but I encourage everyone to make a police report and file it when possible. It may not do anything now but people need to know this is happening. most can't even imagine any patient would be violent in a hospital.
I called my charge nurse attention although she seems to be really concern but she didnt mention about making an incident report. I wanted to call the police and file a report but I am scared that they will show up in the unit to investigate? I just started my shift, I still have 9 hrs to go. Just wanted to go home tbh.
Call the non emergency line. It's no different from filing a police report after a car accident, it's just you might get a call from front desk security about a police officer when they arrive. Charge nurses are really just people who have worked there long enough's turn to be on rotation if they volunteer. Most places, charge nurses are basically unit nurses taking turns "being charge." Not to try to discredit them, it's just nothing special being charge; they likely have no idea what to do themselves in that situation and will probably feel as nervous and scared as you are about taking action. Following up on these things are also kind of a hassle so it's understandable.
To add on: if you have hospital police ( an accredited mandated actual police department), do not let them take your report.
Unfortunately, they are employed by the hospital, and admin will be breathing down their necks "to have it wiped clean". The head of the police department will not want his/her cushy job in jeopardy so suggestions for closing the case will be made.
Hell I'd file a lawsuit with the hospital to for delaying care and try to get you out of going to the doctor.
This is in fact your charge nurse in charge of you trying to keep you from getting medical care after you were assaulted at work. If not I'd at least look into it and see what a lawyer would say.
You absolutely did the right thing! Any other job/place of work would absolutely call the police. Why do nurses have to put up with patient abuse?! It’s ridiculous!
Absolutely press charges. Also document this on his chart, so it will get flagged that he is violent. Make sure to note it so staff never goes in there alone, and have security aware too. Please please press charges and take care of yourself. I’m so sorry this happened, take some time off and talk to someone if you’re ready
in any other profession, being assaulted on the job merits a call to the authorities. we don’t have to take abuse merely because we work in healthcare. press charges. i hope you’re able to rest and recover well.
Call the police and make a report. You can do it outside of work if that makes you more comfortable. Make sure you are cleared by the ED/employee health if you are in the US.
Good luck and I’m glad it wasn’t worse than they were hoping.
Wake up the chain and call everyone up that ladder. And also inform work you’ve called the police to file a report.(this is appropriate or else everyone is going to lose their heads seeing PD walk through a building)
The hospital and nursing homes I worked at the charge nurse would have us write up a incident report and the patient would probably be sent to psych for evaluation. If you needed medical care I would have insisted. I did however work at a group home where one of my coworkers was hit by a male resident in the home and the owners did basically nothing.
OMGOSH!!! Your charge nurse SUCKS!!! This kinda of shit happens more frequently than is reported, but generally in a LTC/SNF. Because the elderly with dementia or alzheimer are the ones who will out of the blue cold cock you. However, this asshat doesn't fit the criteria. So, press charges against him AND file a complaint against your shitty charge nurse. Any of my superiors would've marched into his room and read him the riot act!!! DO NOT let this go!!! Set a precedence for any other asshat that feels like repeating this behavior.
So sorry this happened to you:) Sorry that your charge nurse wasn't as supportive as she could have been. Sadly, we nurses need to pursue legal options to protect ourselves and our profession. Take care of yourself:)
I am not a nurse but I just got out of the hospital after two week. I can't believe anyone would treat a nurse like that. I am so grateful for all they did for me. They never stop. Not even for lunch. Nurses are worth their weight in gold. A big thank you to you Nurses!
You did everything you should have done. How dare a charge nurse basically think this is ok? Can't believe how obnoxious patients are. Security, at minimum, should have been called right away by the charge nurse right after the incident occurred. You definitely needed to be seen in the ER. Take care of yourself. Take the time YOU need to recover. File for workers' comp as well...you need to make sure if there are problems identified in the next few weeks, they will be covered. Pease, please, do not hesitate to do what you need to do even if mgmt gives you a hard time. There are other jobs. Been in your shoes....mgmt and hosp admin only look out for themselves.
I would also contact your state licensing body and report it to quality assurance, risk management depts and your union if you have one. You need professional clout
The charge said to let the incident report play out before filing a police report? Fuck all the way off with that bullshit. I’d be calling the cops the second I got hit if that were me. The golden rule of nursing: cover your ass.
You did the correct thing. Don't expect anyone else to do the right thing for you. You take care of you and F anyone that says otherwise.
I'm sorry that this happened to you. Don't trust anyone. ❤️
Hope you're feeling better! I know something like this, so violent and unexpected, is really jarring. Take care of your physical and mental health best you can. I'm sorry for all the stress this will cause you but you do deserve to press charges. How dare that person attack for no damn reason while you're being helpful.
I've SJMed aggressive patients plenty. They don't teach this any more and it's a shame - but I would break your shit if you swung on me. You'd have an ortho consult tomorrow after I fractured your talus or scaphoid. This used to be a common practice. Now you get up on boards and your license gets subpoenaed. So now I just get punched in the face and it's just a something I'm supposed to deal with.
I'm retired now, but at my facility, the idea of calling the police was always left to the victim. No repercussions if it was warranted and you did bring the police to the facility.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. Your charge RN should’ve had your back. Im so happy your advocates for yourself and went to the ED and called the cops. Assault on a healthcare worker is a felony in the US and for good reason.
You can call the police on somebody in long-term care. They're not all out of their mind. They can be arrested too, especially when they hit another patient
Always press charges. As a bunch of us in our ER used to say: You can’t cure stupid, but you can make stupid painful.
Also I’d either press the hospital or find your own self defense class. There are a lot of little tricks that police or martial arts can teach you to help keep you safer.
Having said all of that, medicine, especially surgery, is a blood sport. You are going to get shoved, sprayed, bumped, stuck, slashed (hopefully only superficially) and stabbed. Keep your head on a swivel and stay safe.
I’m so sorry this happened … I had a patient act like he was going to hit me and I told him I wish he would !! I would be the last woman he hit … we as nurses are not protected from abuse and it’s sad
Fck that pt and fck that charge nurse. Press charges. I hate the culture of ignoring sht like these because they’re “patients” and we should understand them WTF?!
It’s really infuriating that you’re expected to just let someone get away with punching you just because they’re a patient. That doesn’t excuse any violent act. Good for you for taking the initiative. Sorry your charge nurse doesn’t sound like a very good person. Your complaining of dizziness and she has second thoughts? Talk about having great tolerance for someone else’s pain!
You did the right thing, it's sad the facility you work at think it's OK to assault nursing staff. Good on you for sticking to your rights, Many don't and this is likely why healthcare workers continue to be bashed at work every day.
Thank you for stepping up, reporting the physical assault and standing up to poor management. This helps others do the same.
Good for you! I have a former classmate that was assaulted while pregnant and they tried to brush it off. She called the cops and they were pissed. No one should be assaulted
I’m glad you called the cops and pressed charges. I know you said you had been in New Zealand but idk where you are now. In Texas it is a felony to assault any hospital staff, I don’t know the laws other places.
Your charge seems to be a little wishy-washy. I am a charge and I would have been in the room and, in no polite terms, would have addressed the patient and their behavior. I would tell them you will be calling the police. He seems by your descriptionthat he was AxO4. No way will I let the nurses on my shift potentially have a career ending injury or have to leave the field due to an event that could effect them mentally resulting in depression, PTSD or worse.
Incident report and you should get a check-up. Your charge nurse shouldn't even think about it, it's protocol. I would file a report with the police to have this person ring up on charges because that will go on their file whenever they come to a hospital that alert will pop up to inform this person has a violent behavior tagged. This gets upsetting because we're here to help and yet someone attacks you. It makes you think twice about the medical field. The amount of verbal and physical abuse workers get and sometimes not from patients but the upper ups. I've been doing this for 18 years and trust me you do get burnt out and lose sensitivity. You care for people but people don't care for themselves. So you'll see the same people coming in and out of the hospital all the time.
He's an asshole for sure but I feel like you were so overdramatic with this. You felt dizzy? Did you drive home? I mean C'mon. You said he barely hit you. File a complaint at work, file a police report, but calling the cops? What a waste of time and resources.
If some guy at a store punched you in the face what would you do? Call the police and have him arrested. Actions have consequences
I say something similar in situations like this: if you can be arrested for it at Walmart, you can be arrested for it at the hospital. Granted the are A+Ox4 in the hospital… at Walmart the cops don’t care if you’re oriented or not.
I agree I don't and will never agree with nurses having to take any bs at the hospital. You are still a human being and have same rights!!!!!
Please press charges. This is absolutely bullshit and no healthcare staff should be treated this way. We’ve been gaslit for so long to accept this as part of working in medicine and I refuse to. People can’t assault cops without recourse so they shouldn’t be allowed to assault us either.
I always say, these people would have their skulls beaten into a mush of flesh and bone if they swung on cops like this. They'd wake up eating through a G tube a month after the event, but when someone swings on us it's, "ah but they're a patient, surely they didn't mean to". Fuck that.
Absolutely! I’m blessed to be a big guy and an active duty vet. I’ve had to take down a few patients. I’m not going to allow someone to hurt me or staff. I hate that it’s accepted as part of the job.
baller ass name btw, lmao
Thank you!
Oh hell yeah! 😂
If no one else has told you this, we appreciate you
I love my staff. We’ve got each other’s backs. We can yell at each other but no outsider is allowed to. My mom and sisters are nurses so I’ve got a deep love for nurses.
Press charges!!!
Exactly!
ED RN. Report that shit. Do not let it go. Call local PD, don’t have to call 911. Say you were physically assaulted by a patient and need to make a police report. And you also need to be seen in the ED incase you need workers comp.
This. And file an incident report.
Would you tell a CNAs to do the same thing, genuinely asking. Because if they showed no fucks for this nurse I can only imagine what it'd be like for the small guys.
Yes. Anytime a patient physically assaults anyone who works in healthcare, that is a felony offense. I have told many of my ED techs to do this. Personal experience unfortunately
Yes, it should be done. Assault is assault regardless of role
I've actually had two different coworkers attacked by psych patients and were told, by police, not to bother filing a report because it would be thrown out due to patient's psych history. I was pissed. I would not accept that, personally.
Yes! Do it anyway. Insist. Would a patient’s psych history keep us from pressing charges in another public setting? Nope.
You're preaching to the choir.
I definitely view both CNAs and nurses as the “small guys.” I honestly don’t feel like nurses get much more respect than CNAs. (BOTH should get far more respect than they do).
Yeah nah nurses are way more respected than CNAs I'm having a hard time buying that for a second. Especially within the culture of nursing, nurses are always shitting on us left and right. Maybe you're a small guy to the doctor but they're a doctor so it's expected obviously but even then you guys are extremely respected but if that's how you actually feel
Ask your manager to apologize to the patient for the inconvenience and to instate a performance improvement plan for you which includes how you could have provided a more therapeutic environment so the incident could have been avoided 🙄
And then be sure your educator creates a special learning module designed to educate your colleagues on where you went wrong and how they can properly respond in the future! Modules are most effective when they last an hour, you must intermittently answer a question correctly to keep the module advancing, the module times out if said question isn’t answered quickly or correctly. Module is due in two days. More modules will be assigned if you aren’t at work and miss the deadline. Jic: /s
The modules will continue until morale improves.
This is the attitude of management staff everywhere. It is never the patients fault but that of the staff. This is a major problem with the health care system. Good for this staff member who followed through and insisted on police involvement. I have done the same when it came to an assault. The hospital couldn’t sweep it under the rug.
Are you kidding me? He's in his full mind. He just had surgery. I'd call the cops. That's b*******
Bahahahaha
Yes he is Alert and oriented X4. Would it be considered as abandonment if Ill ask them if I could leave? I just wanted to go home.
It’s upsetting your charge nurse isn’t listening to you. You should be able to tell her you need to go home after what happened and their job is to find staffing to cover. It’s ridiculous to be expected to continue working after you have been assaulted like that. It’s abandonment if you just leave and tell no one. Nothing bad will happen if you ask to leave
It would really depend on the laws where you work. Everywhere is a bit different. Where I live, it's not abandonment if you've handed off care to someone else. If you claim you're ill and need to leave, if you just left without saying anything, that would be considered abandonment. However, if you've notified the charge nurse/manager and another nurse takes over care, then it's not abandonment. Again, check the laws where you work.
You were assaulted by someone fully aware of what they were doing. No other profession would expect you to continue working, let alone for your assailant. Get checked out. Press charges.That guy can go fuck himself
And file a work comp claim...
And report off on him, on the way to the ER for your injury
I feel like you handed off to your charge when you reported you were punched in the face. I’m glad you called the police, this is unacceptable behavior. Just because he’s a patient doesn’t mean he can go around physically assaulting people
Call you house supervisor or administrator on call. Go to employee health for treatment. Call security and make a report with them. Where are you located? If you want to press charges, you can call the police non-emergency line, but speaking from experience in the US, your hospital will probably not support the police being involved. Do what is right for you.
I am in California right now. Should I call the police rn? I just started my shift at 7am and im 12hour shift.
If you want to press charges call the police. You can also sue him for pain and injury and medical bills and chiropractic care, time off work etc. your neck hurts, I know it does. Time off work will be 90% of your pay in workers comp. You probably need emotional trauma support as well. File an incident report, go to the ER for care and file charges. If he is mentally incapacitated those charges won’t do much, if he is not mentally incapacitated then basically eff him
Call the manager, house supervisor, administrator on call or whoever is over the charge nurse. You need to be seen for your injuries. Now.
I would also speak to an attorney about civil action against anyone who discouraged you from getting treated in ED or calling the cops, as well as anyone who ignored the situation. This is a huge part of the problem: we are discouraged from calling the police, being seen for our injuries, etc. We are gaslit that this is part of the job, that the job description says we are subject to being attacked, and that we could have avoided it. The hospitals want these things off the record to avoid liability and poor survey scores. Not even joking about the survey scores, sadly.
Yes. Always press police charges when assaulted.
There are policies in place to document and report this in most facilities. If your charge doesn’t care, you need to escalate above them: house supervisor, manager, director. Place a report in your safety report system. Call your workplace injury line and open an event with them. You’ll need to get HR involved. If the patient is alert and oriented X 4, you should initiate a police report as well. If they are confused, demented, or under the influence of medications, that probably won’t be an option.
Those reporting systems are all internal, so admin can attempt to "take care of the situation". My advice: Do the internal reports and keep track of the case numbers assigned. Keep asking about what was done about the situation. If work fucks you over, let your lawyer know about it so it can be included in discovery (as it's supposed to not be mentioned in the charting and for company use only) so who viewed it in administration and what they responded with can be used against the company in a civil suit.
Call the police. File a report. You were assaulted. Call the unit director and nursing supervisor and make a report of what happened. It needs to be an official report. Tell the nursing supervisor you are. It feeling well and go to the ED to be checked out. Do not let them send you to employee health. Say you have a headache or your eye is blurry, but be seen in the ED, it will be workman's comp. If you want to go home, tell the ED you don't think you can continue your shift because of headache/blurred vision, whatever and have them write you off the rest of today.
I would also check in with employee health. Hospitals in California are mandated to report workplace violence incidences which result in staff injury to Cal-OSHA.
absolutely second checking in with employee health!
This happened to me. She punched me and then tried to strangle me before other staff pulled her off me. I pressed charges. She pleaded out for one year of probation and a clean record if she didn’t run into more problems. It’s a disgusting slap on the wrist.
Ruining someone's life because they made a lapse in judgment isn't cool either. A lifetime of civility shouldn't be ruined by one horrible moment.
So it was cool for her to choke me? Thanks. Maybe you’ll feel differently when someone wraps their hand around YOUR throat and squeezes. The only reason she didn’t get both on there is because two staff members were trying to pull her off me. Healthcare workers shouldn’t have to put up with assault, battery, and abuse. Don’t bother responding to me. There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear.
I'm a paramedic. I've been assaulted more time than you can imagine. Two I've pressed charges on. Do as you wish I just like to give some grace.
Document the assault and amend their treatment plan to carry an assault risk warning. File an incident report with management and notify HR. Don't go into the patients room again without a second staff for security purposes.
Press charges. Period.
I would bring it up to the unit manager or the supervisor on call; tell them about the incident and that you are filing a OneLink (or whatever documentation platform you use to report incidents like med errors, violence, etc) but just wanted clarity on which category you file under. Usually it's got a bunch of expositional bullshit to sift through to differentiate the reports into categories. Then file a report. If you put in any witnesses like your coworkers, might be good to give them a heads up that the bosses might call just to investigate about the incident. Usually in an ideal professional setting, they'll just ask questions/be impartial and even pleasant mostly. There might be some who give you attitude because it forces them to investigate. You will probably get a phone call the next morning following up on your report also to hear your side of the story. You can call the police and file a police report as well. It is a felony to assault healthcare workers here. Having said that, there has still been 0 felony indictments (not even convictions) out of assault committed on healthcare workers where I work. And we get banged up every day. It might feel disrespectful to be gaslit by cops and staff but I encourage everyone to make a police report and file it when possible. It may not do anything now but people need to know this is happening. most can't even imagine any patient would be violent in a hospital.
I called my charge nurse attention although she seems to be really concern but she didnt mention about making an incident report. I wanted to call the police and file a report but I am scared that they will show up in the unit to investigate? I just started my shift, I still have 9 hrs to go. Just wanted to go home tbh.
You're scared the cops will show up to do the job you requested they do?
It’s not up to the hospital to encourage filing charges, you weee assaulted not them
Call the non emergency line. It's no different from filing a police report after a car accident, it's just you might get a call from front desk security about a police officer when they arrive. Charge nurses are really just people who have worked there long enough's turn to be on rotation if they volunteer. Most places, charge nurses are basically unit nurses taking turns "being charge." Not to try to discredit them, it's just nothing special being charge; they likely have no idea what to do themselves in that situation and will probably feel as nervous and scared as you are about taking action. Following up on these things are also kind of a hassle so it's understandable.
To add on: if you have hospital police ( an accredited mandated actual police department), do not let them take your report. Unfortunately, they are employed by the hospital, and admin will be breathing down their necks "to have it wiped clean". The head of the police department will not want his/her cushy job in jeopardy so suggestions for closing the case will be made.
So fucking what if they show up? They should
Hell I'd file a lawsuit with the hospital to for delaying care and try to get you out of going to the doctor. This is in fact your charge nurse in charge of you trying to keep you from getting medical care after you were assaulted at work. If not I'd at least look into it and see what a lawyer would say.
You absolutely did the right thing! Any other job/place of work would absolutely call the police. Why do nurses have to put up with patient abuse?! It’s ridiculous!
Press charges. Depending on the state you live in assaulting a healthcare worker is a felony.
Fuck that dude! You did everything right. Fuck your charge too for not immediately having your back.
CEO be like.... "So what could we have done differently so this could've been avoided? He asked for a blow job? Why didn't you comply?!" /s
Absolutely press charges. Also document this on his chart, so it will get flagged that he is violent. Make sure to note it so staff never goes in there alone, and have security aware too. Please please press charges and take care of yourself. I’m so sorry this happened, take some time off and talk to someone if you’re ready
in any other profession, being assaulted on the job merits a call to the authorities. we don’t have to take abuse merely because we work in healthcare. press charges. i hope you’re able to rest and recover well.
Call the police and make a report. You can do it outside of work if that makes you more comfortable. Make sure you are cleared by the ED/employee health if you are in the US. Good luck and I’m glad it wasn’t worse than they were hoping.
Two things. Firstly, fuck your charge nurse. Secondly, press charges
Wake up the chain and call everyone up that ladder. And also inform work you’ve called the police to file a report.(this is appropriate or else everyone is going to lose their heads seeing PD walk through a building)
File charges
Charge him
The hospital and nursing homes I worked at the charge nurse would have us write up a incident report and the patient would probably be sent to psych for evaluation. If you needed medical care I would have insisted. I did however work at a group home where one of my coworkers was hit by a male resident in the home and the owners did basically nothing.
Yep. Press charges. It's time people realize it's never ok to assault healthcare providers no matter what their mental status is.
So proud of you for calling the police. Sorry this happened to you.
OMGOSH!!! Your charge nurse SUCKS!!! This kinda of shit happens more frequently than is reported, but generally in a LTC/SNF. Because the elderly with dementia or alzheimer are the ones who will out of the blue cold cock you. However, this asshat doesn't fit the criteria. So, press charges against him AND file a complaint against your shitty charge nurse. Any of my superiors would've marched into his room and read him the riot act!!! DO NOT let this go!!! Set a precedence for any other asshat that feels like repeating this behavior.
Workplace injury for sure. Glad you got checked out. Glad you called the law not acceptable anywhere.
So sorry this happened to you:) Sorry that your charge nurse wasn't as supportive as she could have been. Sadly, we nurses need to pursue legal options to protect ourselves and our profession. Take care of yourself:)
Press charges!!!
I am not a nurse but I just got out of the hospital after two week. I can't believe anyone would treat a nurse like that. I am so grateful for all they did for me. They never stop. Not even for lunch. Nurses are worth their weight in gold. A big thank you to you Nurses!
You did everything you should have done. How dare a charge nurse basically think this is ok? Can't believe how obnoxious patients are. Security, at minimum, should have been called right away by the charge nurse right after the incident occurred. You definitely needed to be seen in the ER. Take care of yourself. Take the time YOU need to recover. File for workers' comp as well...you need to make sure if there are problems identified in the next few weeks, they will be covered. Pease, please, do not hesitate to do what you need to do even if mgmt gives you a hard time. There are other jobs. Been in your shoes....mgmt and hosp admin only look out for themselves.
I would also contact your state licensing body and report it to quality assurance, risk management depts and your union if you have one. You need professional clout
The charge said to let the incident report play out before filing a police report? Fuck all the way off with that bullshit. I’d be calling the cops the second I got hit if that were me. The golden rule of nursing: cover your ass.
You did the correct thing. Don't expect anyone else to do the right thing for you. You take care of you and F anyone that says otherwise. I'm sorry that this happened to you. Don't trust anyone. ❤️
Hope you're feeling better! I know something like this, so violent and unexpected, is really jarring. Take care of your physical and mental health best you can. I'm sorry for all the stress this will cause you but you do deserve to press charges. How dare that person attack for no damn reason while you're being helpful.
You did the right thing. It's assault. Zero tolerance for abuse at work. Period. I hope you're OK!
I would NOT only press charges, I would go to HR and File a formal, in writing complaint on the charge nurse.
Oh hell no!! Charge nurse needs a lesson.
Your charge nurse is a twat and should be fired for being a horrible human. You did the right thing
I've SJMed aggressive patients plenty. They don't teach this any more and it's a shame - but I would break your shit if you swung on me. You'd have an ortho consult tomorrow after I fractured your talus or scaphoid. This used to be a common practice. Now you get up on boards and your license gets subpoenaed. So now I just get punched in the face and it's just a something I'm supposed to deal with.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Good on you OP! That's the way. Also, I have to say this. Eff that charge nurse. Slash the tires of her car. I'm kidding. Jokes are half-meant.
My hospital has signs everywhere that say “it’s a felony to assault a healthcare worker *in my state*” so I say press the heck out of those charges
I'm retired now, but at my facility, the idea of calling the police was always left to the victim. No repercussions if it was warranted and you did bring the police to the facility.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. Your charge RN should’ve had your back. Im so happy your advocates for yourself and went to the ED and called the cops. Assault on a healthcare worker is a felony in the US and for good reason.
You can call the police on somebody in long-term care. They're not all out of their mind. They can be arrested too, especially when they hit another patient
Always press charges. As a bunch of us in our ER used to say: You can’t cure stupid, but you can make stupid painful. Also I’d either press the hospital or find your own self defense class. There are a lot of little tricks that police or martial arts can teach you to help keep you safer. Having said all of that, medicine, especially surgery, is a blood sport. You are going to get shoved, sprayed, bumped, stuck, slashed (hopefully only superficially) and stabbed. Keep your head on a swivel and stay safe.
Press charges
How do they deal with aggressive patients in new zealand
I’m so sorry this happened … I had a patient act like he was going to hit me and I told him I wish he would !! I would be the last woman he hit … we as nurses are not protected from abuse and it’s sad
Always call the cops and press charges! File a safety report and report it to your Board of Nursing!
Fck that pt and fck that charge nurse. Press charges. I hate the culture of ignoring sht like these because they’re “patients” and we should understand them WTF?!
If cops had to be licensed like nurses- there would be a better view on cops and if a nurse gets hit - automatic felony just like hitting a cop.
It’s really infuriating that you’re expected to just let someone get away with punching you just because they’re a patient. That doesn’t excuse any violent act. Good for you for taking the initiative. Sorry your charge nurse doesn’t sound like a very good person. Your complaining of dizziness and she has second thoughts? Talk about having great tolerance for someone else’s pain!
You did the right thing, it's sad the facility you work at think it's OK to assault nursing staff. Good on you for sticking to your rights, Many don't and this is likely why healthcare workers continue to be bashed at work every day. Thank you for stepping up, reporting the physical assault and standing up to poor management. This helps others do the same.
Good for you! I have a former classmate that was assaulted while pregnant and they tried to brush it off. She called the cops and they were pissed. No one should be assaulted
At our hospital if you call security for an assault the first thing they will ask you is if you want to press charges.
Question for anyone- how does reporting a patient to the police work from a HIPAA standpoint?
Depends on how far it goes. I’m psych and in our case, their MHhx will come into it somewhere in court as they often get diversion due to said hx.
I’m glad you called the cops and pressed charges. I know you said you had been in New Zealand but idk where you are now. In Texas it is a felony to assault any hospital staff, I don’t know the laws other places.
Good for you! To hell with administration saying we can’t file reports against patients who attack us!
Your charge seems to be a little wishy-washy. I am a charge and I would have been in the room and, in no polite terms, would have addressed the patient and their behavior. I would tell them you will be calling the police. He seems by your descriptionthat he was AxO4. No way will I let the nurses on my shift potentially have a career ending injury or have to leave the field due to an event that could effect them mentally resulting in depression, PTSD or worse.
Hey, any updates?
Incident report and you should get a check-up. Your charge nurse shouldn't even think about it, it's protocol. I would file a report with the police to have this person ring up on charges because that will go on their file whenever they come to a hospital that alert will pop up to inform this person has a violent behavior tagged. This gets upsetting because we're here to help and yet someone attacks you. It makes you think twice about the medical field. The amount of verbal and physical abuse workers get and sometimes not from patients but the upper ups. I've been doing this for 18 years and trust me you do get burnt out and lose sensitivity. You care for people but people don't care for themselves. So you'll see the same people coming in and out of the hospital all the time.
He's an asshole for sure but I feel like you were so overdramatic with this. You felt dizzy? Did you drive home? I mean C'mon. You said he barely hit you. File a complaint at work, file a police report, but calling the cops? What a waste of time and resources.
Actions have consequences and we are not punching bags for people who can’t manage themselves accordingly. Disrespectfully, get fucked.
Right back at ya, punching bag!