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I know many of you who have followed me for a while know that I have talked about violence against nurses before, but I feel the need to address it again.
Yesterday I saw a male physician on this app tell a nurse practitioner who was discussing dealing with aggressive patients that “he had never met a patient that couldn’t be reasoned with before”.
He minimized and gaslit the experience that most nurses, and frankly most healthcare workers (70% of which are now female) deal with on a regular basis, and I found it extremely hurtful to have a male medical professional dismiss what is a huge problem in healthcare.
“Nurses (are) attacked more frequently than police or prison guards”
This is a fact. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/whats-one-of-americas-most-dangerous-jobs-its-not-what-you-think/2017/09/11/71eae4d8-9715-11e7-87fc-c3f7ee4035c9_story.html
This is a fact. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/whats-one-of-americas-most-dangerous-jobs-its-not-what-you-think/2017/09/11/71eae4d8-9715-11e7-87fc-c3f7ee4035c9_story.html
“nursing home workers are considered to have the most dangerous jobs in the U.S.—as shown by their fatality rates...working in a nursing home is likely to become more than twice as deadly as previous years' deadliest occupations, like logging & fishing.” https://msmagazine.com/2020/08/03/nursing-home-and-care-workers-officially-the-most-dangerous-job-in-the-u-s/
“In a Journal Sentinel analysis 28% of all reported workplace violence incidents occurred in emergency rooms, according to data from July 1, 2017, to Jan. 1, 2020. That figure is second only to attacks that occurred in the privacy of patients’ rooms.” https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/12/10/hospital-violence-hagainst-nurses-has-raged-years/6463278002/?fbclid=IwAR2JWG8rn4oDD4xUheOwSSuJSwummVM87SqsmwPFjZuXCRZuNR61PkRErF8
And as I said earlier, this isn’t a nursing only problem, although nurses do experience more violence statistically.
“70% of emergency department physicians reported being victims of workplace violence, but only 3% said they pressed criminal charges”
“70% of emergency department physicians reported being victims of workplace violence, but only 3% said they pressed criminal charges”
Last year in Red Deer, Alberta, a physician was brutally murdered by a patient in that clinic. https://www.todayville.com/54-year-old-man-charged-with-first-degree-murder-of-dr-walter-reynolds/
Several years prior in my province a man with a known history of extreme violence was allowed to receive home care unsupervised and murdered his healthcare aide. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/female-careworker-killed-by-client-shouldn-t-have-been-left-alone-judge-says-again-1.3961599
I am not saying that healthcare workers have no room for improvement in communication or empathy with patients, but I find that we are often blamed in situations of violence against us and the question by management or leadership is
“What could you have done better?”
“What could you have done better?”
I have been hit, pushed and had violence threatened against me by male patients twice my size.
My sister was punched in the abdomen while visibly pregnant while being a nurse in the emergency room.
She was discouraged from pressing charges.
My sister was punched in the abdomen while visibly pregnant while being a nurse in the emergency room.
She was discouraged from pressing charges.
I’m not saying that learning to communicate better or learning de-escalation doesn’t help, but I find it completely victim blaming to tell healthcare workers they’re responsible if they are verbally, physicially, or sexually assaulted in a healthcare settting.
I am very happy if you, as a healthcare worker, have never ever experienced aggression or violence in the workplace that couldn’t be managed by good communication.
But that is not the experience of most healthcare workers, most of which are women.
But that is not the experience of most healthcare workers, most of which are women.
The things we know help workplace safety:
- proper staffing ratios
-proper security
-proper care settings
Unfortunately these things cost money to those who run hospitals and therefore the value of workplace safety isn’t at the forefront.
- proper staffing ratios
-proper security
-proper care settings
Unfortunately these things cost money to those who run hospitals and therefore the value of workplace safety isn’t at the forefront.
I apologize if this was a repeat of things I’ve shared previously, but I felt given the comment I saw yesterday that it bared repeating.
