Dodging punches, oxygen tanks, and canes
Every aide has had scary moments on the job where they were in danger. I had never imagined when I first started my CNA course that I would ever be put in any dangerous situations. I thought it would all be very predictable and boring work. I was wrong.
The first time I ever even knew we could be in danger was a patient who was 6'2'' if memory serves me right, his wife had recently died, and he was determined to die. He had quit eating and drinking as well as taking his medication, and would just lay in bed all day and night. He was refusing to shower or go to the bathroom, and changing him was a nightmare. I came into work one day with a note in the book to see the med tech before I hit the floor. I soon learned that one of our older aides had gone in his room to help him into the shower, and he was livid. She wasn't backing down and he got up, knocked her backwards where she hit the wall, grabbed an oxygen tank above his head and went after her. By a miracle our transport driver was walking past, saw him, and literally had to jump on his back in a piggyback to stop him from beating her with the tank. I went in to give this patient his water for the night, and he was down in bed. I tried talking to him and coaxing him to take some, and one time I tried to give him some, he grabbed the front of my scrubs, fingers wrapped in the V cut of the front neckline, and yanked me down to the bed. I had no idea what he was doing and panicked, and was able to pull away quickly and took off running. The med tech came in with me the next time, but I was scared to go in there again. He passed away a few days later.
The other patient we had a problem with was a man who lived, along with his wife in the bedroom at the farthest end of our facility. We had suspected that he had been abusing her because of her behavior, but abusers are very good at hiding that from others, she wouldn't admit to it, he kept a close eye on her when they were out of their room, and he made sure to be extra sweet and complimentary towards the staff. We were told to keep an extra close eye out for any abrasions or any other signs he was hurting her. She wouldn't speak when she was in his presence, she cowered, and it broke my heart, and I kept hawk eyes on him whenever I was at work.
One morning it was my job to make sure they were up and getting ready, so I said 'good morning' to the graves and the med tech, one of the graves was my good friend who was a 6'4'' giant teddy bear. We will call him Josh (name changed). He was so fun to work with. I filled my pocket with gloves and headed down the hall. I unlocked their door and entered just in time to see him grab her by the pants on either hip and yank her into the air, and she yelped and fell backwards onto the bed. Fast decisions had to be made here: I had to step in immediately, but I am not within shouting distance of help, and I'm in danger here as well; he had had an argument with his son one night that had ended with him slamming his son around the room and up against the door, to the point the son stuck his head out in the hall gasping and yelled for us to call 911 but not to come in. If he would do that to his full grown son, I knew I had to tread carefully in order to keep both her and I safe.
I punched the call light as hard as I could as I ran across the room and stepped in between them, praying someone would pick up fast at the nurses desk. He was furious, and as I blocked her from him, he started pacing. The analogy of a caged predator pacing the edge of the enclosure had always sounded like an exaggeration in books, but I suddenly knew what it looked like first hand.
I did a quick visual assessment, and she seemed to be alright for the moment, and my priority was keeping my eyes on him until I knew we were safe, because of how the room was situated, if I was talking to her, my back was to him. I held both hands up and said "________, I will help her get ready for breakfast, why don't you get yourself ready? Looks like we have a good breakfast comin this morning. Ya hungry?" He stopped pacing for a minute and stared me down, then replied that he was and resumed pacing. Right then the speaker screeched and the med tech's voice came on the speaker "___(my name)___, you're in there right? What do you need?"
Here came the hard part-I couldn't risk infuriating him further by saying what had happened, but I also needed backup stat, that this couldn't wait. I paused for a minute to let them hear me hesitate, then simply said "I could really use some help getting her ready, is Josh busy? Could you send him down real quick? I'd really appreciate it." We never asked graves for help in the morning, so I knew even if they didn't understand right away, they would put it together if they thought about it. I heard a long pause on the other end, and I checked behind me to see what the patient's reaction to that was. He was still pacing, but thankfully hadn't become more agitated because of it, he didn't even seem to be paying attention to me. I kept my eyes on him as I finally heard the response "....we're coming right now."
Down the hall you could hear them coming at a sprint, and the next thing I knew the bedroom door flew open and Josh's frame filled the doorway. He charged into the room with the med tech hard on his heels. I've never been so relieved in my life.They checked on me and the wife, and Josh stood in between us and him until we left the room. That patient was transferred to a lock-down facility within the week, and his wife improved slowly with a lot of extra love and compassion until the day she passed away.
Heavenly Father protects us, I know He looks out for me at work, and sometimes I need a lot more protection than usual, but even with the scary moments, I still love my job. I hear people say that if they ever witnessed abuse that the most they would do would be to call the police because they would be afraid of getting hurt or just not want to get involved in their private business-having lived through a moment like that, even had she not been my patient, stepping in between them was my duty, not my job, but my obligation as a fellow human being. Have the courage to stand up for the people around you.
My very favorite show is called What Would You Do? by ABC, and they have a situation where a woman is being abused by a boyfriend. Here is the link if you would like to watch that: http://youtu.be/ieYm0sKoqkY (All rights to ABC news) Be like the people on this video. Be willing to step in and protect those around you. One day someone might have to step in for you. Leave your comments below, let me know if the link doesn't work or just your thoughts on today's post! :)
The first time I ever even knew we could be in danger was a patient who was 6'2'' if memory serves me right, his wife had recently died, and he was determined to die. He had quit eating and drinking as well as taking his medication, and would just lay in bed all day and night. He was refusing to shower or go to the bathroom, and changing him was a nightmare. I came into work one day with a note in the book to see the med tech before I hit the floor. I soon learned that one of our older aides had gone in his room to help him into the shower, and he was livid. She wasn't backing down and he got up, knocked her backwards where she hit the wall, grabbed an oxygen tank above his head and went after her. By a miracle our transport driver was walking past, saw him, and literally had to jump on his back in a piggyback to stop him from beating her with the tank. I went in to give this patient his water for the night, and he was down in bed. I tried talking to him and coaxing him to take some, and one time I tried to give him some, he grabbed the front of my scrubs, fingers wrapped in the V cut of the front neckline, and yanked me down to the bed. I had no idea what he was doing and panicked, and was able to pull away quickly and took off running. The med tech came in with me the next time, but I was scared to go in there again. He passed away a few days later.
The other patient we had a problem with was a man who lived, along with his wife in the bedroom at the farthest end of our facility. We had suspected that he had been abusing her because of her behavior, but abusers are very good at hiding that from others, she wouldn't admit to it, he kept a close eye on her when they were out of their room, and he made sure to be extra sweet and complimentary towards the staff. We were told to keep an extra close eye out for any abrasions or any other signs he was hurting her. She wouldn't speak when she was in his presence, she cowered, and it broke my heart, and I kept hawk eyes on him whenever I was at work.
One morning it was my job to make sure they were up and getting ready, so I said 'good morning' to the graves and the med tech, one of the graves was my good friend who was a 6'4'' giant teddy bear. We will call him Josh (name changed). He was so fun to work with. I filled my pocket with gloves and headed down the hall. I unlocked their door and entered just in time to see him grab her by the pants on either hip and yank her into the air, and she yelped and fell backwards onto the bed. Fast decisions had to be made here: I had to step in immediately, but I am not within shouting distance of help, and I'm in danger here as well; he had had an argument with his son one night that had ended with him slamming his son around the room and up against the door, to the point the son stuck his head out in the hall gasping and yelled for us to call 911 but not to come in. If he would do that to his full grown son, I knew I had to tread carefully in order to keep both her and I safe.
I punched the call light as hard as I could as I ran across the room and stepped in between them, praying someone would pick up fast at the nurses desk. He was furious, and as I blocked her from him, he started pacing. The analogy of a caged predator pacing the edge of the enclosure had always sounded like an exaggeration in books, but I suddenly knew what it looked like first hand.
I did a quick visual assessment, and she seemed to be alright for the moment, and my priority was keeping my eyes on him until I knew we were safe, because of how the room was situated, if I was talking to her, my back was to him. I held both hands up and said "________, I will help her get ready for breakfast, why don't you get yourself ready? Looks like we have a good breakfast comin this morning. Ya hungry?" He stopped pacing for a minute and stared me down, then replied that he was and resumed pacing. Right then the speaker screeched and the med tech's voice came on the speaker "___(my name)___, you're in there right? What do you need?"
Here came the hard part-I couldn't risk infuriating him further by saying what had happened, but I also needed backup stat, that this couldn't wait. I paused for a minute to let them hear me hesitate, then simply said "I could really use some help getting her ready, is Josh busy? Could you send him down real quick? I'd really appreciate it." We never asked graves for help in the morning, so I knew even if they didn't understand right away, they would put it together if they thought about it. I heard a long pause on the other end, and I checked behind me to see what the patient's reaction to that was. He was still pacing, but thankfully hadn't become more agitated because of it, he didn't even seem to be paying attention to me. I kept my eyes on him as I finally heard the response "....we're coming right now."
Down the hall you could hear them coming at a sprint, and the next thing I knew the bedroom door flew open and Josh's frame filled the doorway. He charged into the room with the med tech hard on his heels. I've never been so relieved in my life.They checked on me and the wife, and Josh stood in between us and him until we left the room. That patient was transferred to a lock-down facility within the week, and his wife improved slowly with a lot of extra love and compassion until the day she passed away.
Heavenly Father protects us, I know He looks out for me at work, and sometimes I need a lot more protection than usual, but even with the scary moments, I still love my job. I hear people say that if they ever witnessed abuse that the most they would do would be to call the police because they would be afraid of getting hurt or just not want to get involved in their private business-having lived through a moment like that, even had she not been my patient, stepping in between them was my duty, not my job, but my obligation as a fellow human being. Have the courage to stand up for the people around you.
My very favorite show is called What Would You Do? by ABC, and they have a situation where a woman is being abused by a boyfriend. Here is the link if you would like to watch that: http://youtu.be/ieYm0sKoqkY (All rights to ABC news) Be like the people on this video. Be willing to step in and protect those around you. One day someone might have to step in for you. Leave your comments below, let me know if the link doesn't work or just your thoughts on today's post! :)
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