Jan.9,2018

Sometimes when we get busy with our own life we forget what has happened to our colleagues. This happens. I wonder though what has happened to some of the healthcare workers that emailed me. The ones that I have spoken to face to face,  the ones that shed their tears from the assault,the pain and the frustration. This is one of the healthcare workers story. 

I hadn’t spoken to my colleague for a few months. I was hoping life was better for her.

She was assaulted while working as a Nurse in a busy emergency room by a young man that was there for evaluation of his mental health.

This assault was not her first in the ER but it is the last. I asked how she was doing and she was quick to answer. I am not doing well I am so tired. Since that assault I haven’t felt good, not one day do I feel good.

This man took away my health, he took away the future I had and he took away my financial status.

I live in pain, I can’t sleep .I go to and see my primary care physician, I go to physical therapy, I go to therapy to get over the nightmares of the assault. I am still angry!

Do you know what he is doing?    “ Living his life the way he wants.”

How many healthcare workers are out there saying the same thing? Let me know please!

PLEASE BE Safe, take care of each other!!!!!!!!!! Being in the Healthcare business can be harmful to your health!

It is day 5 of 2018 and already the violence has hit! Can we as healthcare workers become change agents and can we change the culture of our environment?
The answer to this is a definite YES. So how can we do this?
There is a misconception from the top to the bottom that violence is part of the job. We as a whole need to change that. we change this by not accepting this!
There is a story of a nurse being assaulted, no security available her supervisor watched her getting assaulted, and once the patient was taken care of the supervisor told her to finish her shift or she would get fired. REALLY do they have that much control????
There are numerous stories like this.
Under federal law,we are entitled to a safe workplace.Our employer must provide a workplace free of known health and safety hazards.
Why aren't they protecting us? Do we as healthcare workers just accept being assaulted by not writing out incident reports? calling the police? talking among each other?
I have done a lot of speaking engagements and the public hasn't got any idea that we get assaulted! We need to tell them.we need to use our power to let them know.
Please be safe and understand it is not part of your job to be assaulted!!!!!!!
  

Happy New Year to all,
It is the beginning of a new year and one of my hopes is that the bill #795/#765 will get passed.These bills are the same but one is the house bill the other the Senate bill. If it get passed it will change the Ma. Law from a misdemeanor to a felony for assaulting healthcare workers. 33 other states have a felony law for assaulting healthcare workers. Why not Massachusetts?
Did you know that 80% of healthcareworkers get assaulted on the job? Please help us by calling ,emailing or writing your representative and saying you support the bill.
Getting this bill passed is only the tip of the iceberg,we have a lot of work to do to keep our hospitals,and other organizations safe.
Thank you!

Why couldn't the police officer accept what the nurse was saying? Again what was so important?
Why was the nurse abandoned?  Where was anyone in authority? No physicians?
Why didn't ,whoever it was on the phone say I will handle this when I come in, I am on my way"
Who took care of this nurses patients? Did the patients see all this commotion?
Did anyone call the CHIEF of POLICE?
I know being a Monday night Quarterback ER isn't the way to go BUT this nurse was left alone. The devastation was heard in her voice. Her cries for help and really, no one was lending a hand for her. Except a voice I heard saying "she is doing her job"
What type of administration does that to an employee? What type of police force is in Utah?
We as nurses are behind this Nurse. Prayers are sent to her And her family!! !!!!!

I wonder at times, why I think differently then others. There is so much news coverage on the nurse that was arrested. The police officer wanted blood work drawn from a patient and the nurse couldn't / wouldn't do it.
I thought , did the police officer think he could march right in and order blood work from a patient? Why would he think that? Can we as nurses walk into the police department and demand records of criminals? What was so important he couldn't follow the procedures?
But that isn't the real reason I am upset about this whole business. What I don't understand is why this nurse was left to stand on her own! Where was her supervisor? Where was her Director of Nursing? Why wasn't the ER physician handling this incident? S/he is the one ordering the blood work . If  s/he didn't feel the need for this blood work the police officer wanted ,the Medical director should have been called and responded by coming into the ER.
I feel so unsettled due to the lack of support this nurse received.
 Handcuffed and escorted out of the ER by a police officer that needed something in the patients blood work and didn't get it.
Why wasn't the supervisor, head nurse, physician, risk manager, Human Resources, Director of nursing,Medical director ,head of security??????? Most hospitals have a team like this , they are the ones that should of handled the police officer not the nurse.
If I ever ended up in that ER I would want that nurse to take care of me because she is a  GREAT NURSE that takes care of the whole patient awake, asleep or unconscious.

Did you Know?

Lets talk about violence,assaults and homicide.
When we think of violence,violent attacks ,or homicide, most people imagine street crime ,a convenience store robbery gone very badly,or perhaps a lethal home invasion.
My topic is different : violence perpetrated against healthcare workers-nurses,physicians,emergency techs, medical aides,and so forth-at the hands of patients, patients family members and patient acquaintances.
80% of healthcare workers get assaulted   YES I wrote 80% of healthcare workers get assaulted!!!!
The healthcare employee population is,literally and figuratively under attack,and the victims are losing their sense of freedom,safety, emotional stability and in some cases their lives.

We need to continue to let the public know how much violence there is!

I have read numerous articles about healthcare violence just in the past few days. I am so pleased that the violence in healthcare settings is being recognized. It has been a problem for years. BUT it seems to be all talk! "Needs to be studied more" seems to be in a lot of the writings. My response is
Healthcare professionals are getting hurt in all healthcare facilities. Why isn't anything being done????? The public has very little knowledge of what nurses do . We need to let them know!
 We need to work together and get this job of violence under control now!