After reading and re-reading articles by Chris Burrell of the Quincy, MA, Patriot Ledger chronicling Pembroke Hospital’s security breaches and assaults, I had difficulty grasping the entire scenario:
Documentation appears to support assertions of current and past safety failures: patients being in harm’s way; medical and other staff assaulted; and safety staffing and precautions being sorely deficient.
Yet no action has been taken – save the issuance of delayed hazard alerts.
Alerts to which Pembroke Hospital is not required to respond.
And staff continue to be attacked.
How and why is this possible?
More recently, the Ledger reported that over the March 4th weekend a nurse at this psych facility was assaulted by a patient, nearly tearing off an ear and almost gouging an eye.
I cannot fathom how or why this is happening.
As a nurse with more 30 years behind me, imagining that the general consensus is it’s okay to assault us is astonishing.
And worse: How do administrators regard the medical staff? Have we become so disposable that our well-being doesn’t matter?
Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH
President
Stop Healthcare Violence
www.stophealthcareviolence.org
Documentation appears to support assertions of current and past safety failures: patients being in harm’s way; medical and other staff assaulted; and safety staffing and precautions being sorely deficient.
Yet no action has been taken – save the issuance of delayed hazard alerts.
Alerts to which Pembroke Hospital is not required to respond.
And staff continue to be attacked.
How and why is this possible?
More recently, the Ledger reported that over the March 4th weekend a nurse at this psych facility was assaulted by a patient, nearly tearing off an ear and almost gouging an eye.
I cannot fathom how or why this is happening.
As a nurse with more 30 years behind me, imagining that the general consensus is it’s okay to assault us is astonishing.
And worse: How do administrators regard the medical staff? Have we become so disposable that our well-being doesn’t matter?
Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH
President
Stop Healthcare Violence
www.stophealthcareviolence.org
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