this pisses me off

Assaults on nurses are at an all time high.

What kind of prick would assault a nurse (regardless of gender)? I mean, I understand if the nurse was asking for it (they’re still people, and people suck) but if that was all that was going on, it wouldn’t be at an all time high!

I can also understand if the patient wasn’t in control of his faculties and thought the nurse was a bear or something. But some of these people are getting smacked around by ‘stressed out’ friends and family.

That is bullshit. How are these patients expected to survive with no nurses? Nurses give meds, feed, wash, test, and do countless other things to keep patients alive and comfortable. And when they have to do something unpleasant they don’t exactly enjoy it, but it’s for your own good.

I am starting to rant, and at the risk of becoming an angsty blog* I’ll finish up by saying nurses deserve more money.

* Sorry Will, but you totally asked for it buddy. 🙂

 

15 thoughts on “this pisses me off

  1. Anonymous:

    Yes. I mean. Just because you’re a nurse it doesn’t mean you’re a saint. I have friends who have had nurses that weren’t kind to them at all. ‘Assault’ could mean a verbal assault and it was appropriate in some cases, like if a nurse got cranky at you.

    I’m saying nobody’s perfect because of thier noble job (take police officers) not that a nurse is begging to be smacked/told off because you don’t like the taste of the prednisone she brings you.

  2. Just to clarify. I did understand why he copied that. But…
    and Anonymous message with no content is other than copied is kinda stupid. Though as evidenced by this post, original content isn’t always a plus.

  3. I agree.

    I worded that very badly, it sounded much worse than I intended. The expression “They were asking for it” is often linked to making an irrational conclusion leading to violence or other forms of abuse.

  4. My first thoughts upon reading rob’s post where to ask why is an assult on a nurse any worse than an assult on anyone else. Of course, it’s not. However, I do think it’s reasonable to have different penalties depending on the victim.

    For example, in many states shooting a police officer will get you the death penalty or at least a severe sentence. This is like a set armour for the police as they are forced into dangerous situations (btw, does this really work?).

    If you hit another player, you sit out for 2 minutes. If you hit the referee, you never play again. This, I think is reasonable and effective.

    Make any sense? Are nurses or doctors even in a position like this? I’m not sure.

  5. I would tend to think so. Or at least they are now with these new statistics. It’s my turn to cut and paste:

    And while workplace violence against doctors is also on the rise, the lion’s share of assaults hit R.N.s. A four-year Bureau of Justice Statistics study showed that between 1992 and 1996, 69,500 nurses were assaulted, compared with 10,000 physicians — nearly seven times as many. And while the legal penalty for harming an M.D. can be stiff, many states offer little deterrent when it comes to attacking nurses. “In the state of Massachusetts, it’s a felony to attack an E.R. doctor,” workplace violence expert Marilyn Lanza points out, “but only a misdemeanor to assault a nurse.”

    If becoming a nurse in a hospital means a high chance of assault, maybe they’ll start becoming personal care nurses (is that what they’re called?) and stick around at the safer nursing home atmospheres. With less nurses, it becomes more hectic in the hospital, more leave, and the cycle goes on.

    But in the case of the psychotic patient mentionned in the article that attacked a nurse, I don’t think that he would be thinking about the stiff consequences.

  6. I’m skeptical about your use of statistics Rob. You quote that 69,500 nurses were assaulted and only 10,000 physicians, implying that nurses are assaulted more frequently than physicians. This may be the case, but how many more nurses are there versus physicians and how many more hours do they spend with the patients?

    This statistic reminds me of people who say that in a school with 85% black students that it’s racist that 85% of detentions go to black students.

  7. Good point Nick.

    I’m not sure of my statistics, I stole that right off the Salon article. Salon tends to be good about stuff like that, but you’re right, I don’t know.

    Upon digging at it a bit, I see there are 2,500,000 nurses in the states. I’m unsure of the amount of physicians.

  8. Well i know both sideds of this debate in that I have a sister who is a nurse and has had to deal with abuse in her work place.

    I have also been a patient many times and experinced nurses who didn’t give a shit about the patient.

    I must say that nurses do deserve more money they work with life and death held in their hands. And personally if I could I would pay to get a well trained nurse who cared.

  9. I’m afraid there isn’t a shortage of angsty blogs, so, it’s open season. 😛

  10. I am an Rn assaulted 5 months ago by an elderly male pt. He grabbed me and pulled me form a standing position on top of him, over the cot-side of the bed, who ever thinks little old men dont have much strength, think again. I only tucked his blanket in so he wouldnt get cold during the night.I suffered herniated disc, buldging disc, and fratured T7 of thooracic spine, I am now off to see Ortho surgeon, not knowing what my future holds. I love my job, wouldnt want to do anything else. But now I may be faced with the prospect of changing career thru no fault of my own. It also “pisses me off” that alot of people think all we do is wipe arses and clean up vomit.Uhhhumm….there is a lot more to it than that. Id love to see these wankers in parliament spend one night duty on my ward and see how they fare in the morning, they may even think we deserve a little more money????

    cheers

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