…Data shows American health care workers now suffer more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, including law enforcement.
Not surprising when
the world’s worst social workersthe police just drop off mentally ill and drugged out people at ERs and expect them to deal with it.The ERs in my city literally have security guards because of how much they have to deal with angry people on drugs and others experiencing mental health crises.
“Health care workers don’t even think about that when they decide they want to be a nurse or a doctor. But as far as actual violence goes, statistically, health care is four or five times more dangerous than any other profession,” said Michael D’Angelo, a former police officer who focuses on health care and workplace violence as a security consultant in Florida.
It’s surprising how little it’s talked about, and how common it is. It’s literally a question of when not if that er workers get assaulted. They also have basically no recourse to restrain or subdue attackers.
I’m honestly surprised that we don’t see mass shootings at health insurance offices. They fight tooth and nail to keep their customers suffering and in poverty.
They’re the second largest political lobby in the U.S.
The pharmaceutical lobby is the first.
Finding insurable offices is pretty difficult. Google might get you there, but it’s a 12+ hour drive to the closest office of any company.
“Health care workers racked up 73% of all nonfatal workplace violence injuries in 2018, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics”
And this is why I’m the first one telling my colleagues to back away if a patient starts threatening. I always say, “I ain’t taking a punch for no one.”
Drug and alcohol withdrawal is a beast. You wish you could show all your younger cousins what it does to people so they never get themselves into that situation. Dementia patients are much more difficult because your first instinct is to jump in there to keep them safe from themselves. But if I’m injured at work, then I can’t take care of anyone else either, and that’s not fair to my family or my other patients.
I’m really lucky that I work at a small hospital where our security takes our concerns seriously. We’ve had edgy situations where they decide to just increase the frequency of their rounds on our unit and make a show of being present. It helps a lot.
Weaponized stupidity.
