Prison Pens could have saved a lot of trauma

I was looking for a pen yesterday,either I have a ton of them or I can't find them at all.When I went to the draw I was surprised to find the prison pen. YOU SAY TO YOURSELF WHAT THE HECK IS A PRISON PEN?

Let me tell you the story first: I believe we can www.stophealthcareviolence.org if we ALL work together and learn to communicate well with each other.
I have worked in two ER'S for over 17 years I have seen a lot ,I have seen things I wish I didn't see but I did.
Here's the story now!!!!!!!
The police and EMS  bring in a patient handcuffed:
 The patient's story goes like this, told by the EMS.
This person had his wife and kids in his car,he was holding a gun to the wife's head, he cut her pretty bad with a razor blade on her feet so she couldn't run out of the car ( the wife wasn't brought to our hospital) He stopped at her mothers house to let the mother know he was going to kill the wife and kids.
The mother called the police and the police arrived and handled this situation called EMS and now the person was on the ER stretcher handcuffed to the railings.
Now on the hospitals part they were trying to get people to sign in for their treatment. The registration person comes down to get the signature,she looked at the police officer and he stated he can't have him sign because it could be looked at, as coercion. ( something I never thought about)
Registration hands the patient the pen and he starts stabbing himself with the pen....
Registration is so shocked she can't move,police are yelling to STOP with their hands on their guns.
The whole situation could have been avoided with the prison pen.
Our NEW director of security had come from the prison system and  told us about the pens. They are flexible pens maybe a soft plastic that no one could get hurt on.
(WE could all find lots of fault with the whole story ,EXample person shouldn't have tried to get signature etc. it happens everywhere).
The whole point of this is: If we had the prison pen we would have used it BUT not one person had ever heard of it.. The New Director of Security because of his experience was able to share this information and ordered the pens to hope this incident would never happen again.

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

What does your state law say? or do you have a law in your state for assault on healthcare workers?

Ken Sternhardt Dir.of Gov't Relations for ENA writes about the state laws. He wrote that there is 29 states that have felony laws in place.
That makes a total of 35 states now provide enhanced penalties for attacking ER nurses.
Thank You Mr. Sternhardt for this information.
ahere is a copy of vermont bill that is on the wall of a health center in Vermont. this. I believe the laws should be on the walls of all healthcare institutions.

 Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH     www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Self destructive behaviors affect everyone.

I lived less than 3 miles from where I worked. I drove there and drove home that was it!
Working in the emergency room and dealing with the same people with the same problem night after night there had to be something I could do.
These folks were self destructive, they would come in drunk, incontinent of urine,feces yelling and swinging at us. Who really wants to take care of this person?
Here is another question.

1. Why do the police call an ambulance to take someone to the hospital when the person has had to much to drink?
2. Don't read into this question BUT does a person that has had too much to drink belong in an emergency room?

I believe alcoholism is a disease,like diabetes It can run in the family. If a person wants to get better they do something about it.

It is really hard to see someone come in to the hospital drunk night after night and they won't do anything about it. This person can go to AA all AA asks for is the desire to stop drinking! Sponsors are right there to help if you want it!

Is it any different than the person on oxygen and they continue to smoke?
Patches and pills can help and many other avenues to try.

Or the diabetic that is so overweight and doesn't follow the suggestions of her physician to lose weight.
All of these and many more are folks that are self destructive. Human behavior! But the issue is why to others pay the price?
The person that is drunk and hits a healthcare worker I bet also beats is family.
The smoker with the oxygen puts everyone at risk .Oxygen and smoking are bad together.EXPLODE
The overweight diabetic ,gets heavy and can't help her/himself Someone does and they can get injured.
Just a few comments...

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH
www.stophealthcareviolence.org

What have you done when you see your co worker assaulted by a patient?
Most people think it is the substance abusers ,the psychiatric patients or confused patients.
Well these folks do hurt the staff along with their family members, friends and anyone else that thinks they can..
 It is awful how we are as health care workers are treated and no one seems to pay attention to us.
Incident reports are made out , there is no feedback, no one calls and asks if the staff that was assaulted is back to work and well. Would it be so hard to ask to show that someone cares?
I wrote out an incident report and I was asked to: "would you mind not writing the whole expletive out, it is embarrassing to read it in the group , just put the first letter we could figure it out" My response was" the patient as he was hitting me didn't call me a F------ B---- I will continue to write what the patient says!"
I was really angry to think it was alright that patients could swear at us but it embarrasses administration.
When I saw my co worker thrown up against the wall by a patient she just brought lunch to,I knew we had to do something more. We needed security in the ER 24/7
Three of us presented at a workplace committee meeting when they were fashionable, we presented a power point on our needs and wants. Administration felt we had a point and decided they would allow security to be in the ER friday and saturday evening just for a test. We took it , but we felt defeated although we knew we would continue with our fight.
 We realized at that time NO ONE really looked at the incident reports seriously.WE were assaulted monday through sunday and administration thinks we would be happy with security only on Friday and Saturday Evenin
It took a while to work on it, but we are working with security in our ER 24/7

If you are interested in how please email me.

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

asheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

Emailed to me, How sad!

Hi Sheila ,
I am having trouble with the patient I am taking care of. He has started to hit me.
 I wrote back and asked if he spoke to his family . The answer was yes and they spoke to patient and the patient said ,"I will do what I have to do to get what I need"   The family gets angry when I ask about him. I asked if they called his primary care physician , he said no. They don't want to be bothered, they just get mad  at me and threaten me. I know I am going to get fired.    
This is a very sad story, however I don't know if it is true ,are family members really not caring?( I have met many in my day)
I gave this person a number to call to ask questions about his change in condition and get some answers as what to do., if this was a change in his behavior he needed to be seen,but I don't know the legal issues. If the patient needed to be evaluated and the family states they didn't want him evaluated could he call elder abuse? I don't know the laws in every state.?
He emailed again to tell me that this patient of his is yelling and trying to hit him, he hadn't called the number I had mentioned, then he said I know he has guns in house,when I asked, do you know if they are loaded he said no but I can see the container of bullets. Again I asked if he called the number I had suggested,the answer was no. He stated he needed to assist the patient and email later.
He emailed me later and told me he had 2 weeks to get out of there. He didn't have anywhere to go. He worked for this family 24/7 little pay and sounds like no support.
I haven't heard from him lately but the reason I am writing this, is :
Why are elderly patients left to their own demons, it sounded like this man needed help and the family doesn't sound that interested .
Could this person been shot by the guns?
How many elderly patients are like this ,with care givers that are treated they way this one was?
What really is behind closed doors???????????


www.stophealthcareviolence.org


Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

Old nurse friend,our passion for what we do ,hasn't changed!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is snowing, snow rain and lots of ice. It would be a day that most people would stay in the home .Out of the elements ,but did we do that ? NO!
We met for lunch and spoke about our family's and before long we started on the one thing that we both love. Nursing.
We spoke about when we got started , the backrubs we gave ,the information about the  patient, the real issue's that brought people to the hospital. We would really care for the patients, together we worked on a floor that had every thing. Strokes, Cancer,withdrawal symptoms, kidney problems etc. It was a busy floor ,discharges, admissions, patients yelling and crying. You think of it, we had it. BUT it was what we did and we have no regrets.  We would show up early for our shift, get our supplies ready, get report and off we would go,smiles on our faces (they were real smiles),eager to do a great job.
Times have changed ,there is no time for patient care. I worked in a emergency room and she is a nurse practitioner .
In the ER we run all day, eve or night. The patients keep coming in, their sick ,afraid and just want to feel better. But they do want to be seen by the physician  at some point! Most ER's run with 2 Doc's sometimes only one.
A NP has to see patients every 15 minutes,is that real? Talk to the patient, examine the patient, document and discuss with the patient your thoughts. ( I have phone calls at home lasting longer for no reason)
Although we complain ,it is the passion that keeps us going.
I wonder if Florence Nightingale would agree to this?
One question>>>>>>>>

Is healthcare about the money? It certainly isn't about saving money.  



www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

EMTALA (Emergency Medical Transfer and Labor Act)The Devil Never Anticipated The Details

I was at a loss of what to write these past few days ,but today I opened my email and found an email from
Charles C Anderson MD FACP FACEP
. Now I will tell you I didn't know him or his works. I am so surprised that someone else care for the healthcare workers. He has written blogs and a couple of books. One of the books is call "THE FIRST TO SAY NO" Story of healthcareviolence.
IN his blogs he writes about the law of EMTALA and how this has increased the healthcareviolence.
 Thank You Dr. Charles C Anderson I can't wait to get your book on "The first to say no"
Please go to his blog: Charles C Anderson MD


Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

I have posted other public opinions but this guy says it right!

Please excuse the sound , it was very windy. This man states ,the way he see's nurses. I believe he is right!!!!!!!!

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH

Nurses need to work together, to help and support each other

This nurse was walking up in the hallway to get another patient ,when she was assaulted. Another patient threatens her life and the life of her family..
Being threatened by patient's ,their family's or friends is not uncommon..

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH

Everybody's job is important,working as a team is a must. I wonder if this experienced nurse didn't have this trauma would she still be in nursing?

We all need to work as a team. This sounds like security didn't get the information correct and left this nurse to fend for herself.. If they had stayed in the room for support ,maybe she wouldn't have left ER nursing. Terrific experienced nurses are leaving because of violence.

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

Another Nurse assaulted,speaks out on lack of support.

When ,we as nurses get assaulted . It is really hard to understand why people don't understand how awful it is.


WWW.stophealthcareviolenc.org

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH