I have always felt that my safety is at risk as a physician. I have seen some very interesting characters in my day and have been threatened numerous times with violence. Most or all of this revolves around chronic narcotic seekers. I am not alone. When you read this
article about how ER nurses have to endure spitting, cursing and violence it really makes you sick. The problem is that it never changes. Hospital administrations do the bare minimal to protect their people and little more. In a recent survey, more than half of nurses in the ER -- 53.4 percent -- reported experiencing verbal abuse and about 13 percent said they had encountered physical violence at work in the previous week. Wow. One nurse had a patient who was drunk and high on drugs grab her around the neck, choked her until she couldn’t breathe and then spat in her face. The hospital wanted her to drop assault charges against her attacker and then fired her when she refused. Feel secure yet? Want more? An
unidentified man fired a gun inside an ER in a Bronx hospital leaving a 37-year old nurse and 42-year old security guard wounded from the ricocheted bullets. This job is tough as it is. Our personal safety should not be at risk as well. Anybody else have some war stories that they want to share?
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