A suicidal mental patient threw a cup of tea over my nurse/wife how can she punish her?

Question

My wife who is a nurse at a mental institution had a hot cup of tea thrown over her face by one of the suicidal patients.

My wife came home to to change, was irate, stressed out and was talking about some action against the woman.

I said there is nothing you can do as the woman wants to die and I don't think you can sue her as it is part of the your job to defend yourself against these mental patients that you are in charge of; my wife replied, "I don't want money I just want to punish her", she then drank a 1/4 bottle of brandy which seemed to calm her down and went back to work.

I think this suicide woman may be beaten up the next time she has a tantrum.

What should my wife do; sue her, sue the hospital, report it to her managers or just beat the crap out of the suicidal woman patient so she won't attack my wife again in a hurry?

Sensible answers appreciated

My wife very rarely drinks and has been at he hospital for 18 months without being attacked herself. The woman attacked her because she was told to go to her room for being disruptive to other patients on the ward.

Answer 1

I think your wife needs to change her job. She is obviously all out of sympathy and understanding. I was a psychiatric nurse for 20 years and took all sorts of abuse which ranged from being spat at to having my shoulder broken. Unfortunately it is a hazard of the job and it is why these people are in your care. Retaliation or compensation is not an issue. If it becomes one then your wife needs a new career.

Answer 2

Many of the other answers are correct. I do like the one that said giving the mental patient a hot drink was a bad idea and she may be due some compensation. However, filling out a full incident report should be done. If there's one form of punishment that can be done, is if the woman should ever have legal issues in the future that involves violence, that report can brought up and used against her as fuel to put her away longer. Your wife does need to look into changing her job. I worked in the psych ward of an Atlanta area institution involving criminals. It wore me out in 3 years. I was also at the point of crying everyday before going to work because I hated it so much. And I am a big tough dude almost at the point of crying. That was bad. Luckily, I finally had the sense to quit and move back to IL. I've vowed never to return to the medical field. I will not help or counsel anyone ever again. You can thank the scum-bag criminals for that change. Don't let your wife burn out like I did. G'day Sir.

Answer 3

This is a very sensible and honest answer. Your wife needs to change professions. Her behavior puts her at risk of not only losing her license but she could also face jail time. If your wife is truly a "nurse" at a mental institution then she knows that she can expect patients to act out in unacceptable ways. She obviously had some training in de-escalation and the appropriate way to handle situations like this. The event would also be documented to the patient's chart and the staff would be warned of the assaultive behavior so they could take the necessary precautions. If your wife didn't "report it to her managers" then she has not fulfilled her obligation to chart the behavior and is seriously lacking in nursing skills. Tell your wife to get some continuing education in mental health nursing or get another job before she hurts someone and ends up in jail. In most states, every injury to a mental health patient is thoroughly investigated. Most facilities have video cameras to protect the staff and the patients.

Answer 4

Sounds to me like your wife needs a few days off. Almost all the time, when a mental health patient attacks, it could have been prevented by staff. And there is no way to have an attitude of wanting to punish a mental health patient. It is a clear sign that your wife is losing perspective. In 5 1/2 years of working with SPMI clients, I was attacked once-and it was my fault because I got too close to a lady unstable on her meds.

Answer 5

I suggest your wife fill out an incident report at work and let her boss know what happened. But it would be wrong to punish the patient. The patient is mentally ill and probably has no reasoning ability and no awareness of what happened. To harm or punish a patient could result in your wife being fired and losing her nursing license! Your wife was wrong to drink that Brandy before heading back to work. Alcohol could impair her reasoning/judging ability as a nurse and also result in her being fired. You wife needs to find another nursing job where she does not work with the mentally ill or even consider another line of work.

Answer 6

I have worked in mental health for many years. There is nothing you can really do. You wife knew the risks associated with job before she took it. About all your wife can do is report it to her supervisor. You really don't stand much of a chance to sue the woman since she is more then likely there due to mental and/or emotional issues. One word of advice....If your wife should take things into her hands and "beat up" the woman she (your wife) could be brought up on assault charges and it would destroy her career. And as for drinking and going back to work....If she is caught she could also be brought up on charges if something happened at work and they found out. Maybe this type of work is not suited for your wife. Not everyone can do it.

Answer 7

Perhaps your wife needs to examine her own violent reaction to something that should not be out of the ordinary for a violently unstable personality. It may be burnout and, instead of reprecussions against this woman, maybe take a vacation. I worked with unstable and mentally disabled children who would not only scream, but bite, hit, cuss, and piss on floors so I have a glimmering of what your wife is going through. It is hard not to instantaneously react when another hurts us, it's human nature. The difference is we, as rational and caring individuals, can step outside ourselves and overcome such behavior whereas someone in a mentally scewed state cannot. Take a few days off and maybe visit a spa and see if that helps. Everyone needs a break sometimes

Answer 8

Frankly, a lawsuit won't fly. Your wife has been trained in the management of aggressive patient behavior (all employees in psych facilities attend these mandatory training programs). It serves to cover the hospital in cases like these. A suit would end up coming back on her, most likely, and a vindictive patient might go after her license (whether warranted or not).

Your wife needs to let this go. If she dares whisper a word about wanting to "punish" the patient in the presence of other colleagues, she could end up in a world of hurt. If she makes the crucial error of mentioning that she completed her shift under the influence of alcohol, she can kiss her job goodbye.

Suicidal patients (unless this is a state facility we're talking here) won't be in much longer than 7-10 days (yes scarey, but true). Your wife might be able to transfer to another unit temporarily until the problem patient is discharged. In fact, given your description of your wife's response to this incident, I strongly recommend that she consider this option.

If she did suffer any significant injury (burn, etc) she most definitely should report that to management, as it will make a difference later as to whether or not she would be eligible for worker's comp benefits. From your post, it sounds like she wasn't significantly injured enough to prevent her from finishing her shift, however, so this may not apply. Other than that, wife should drop it.

When all is said and done, it is truly best to let it go.

Trust me on this one.

Answer 9

Your wife should report the incident to her boss. And your wife shouldn't be drinking or under the influence of brandy while working anywhere, and especially with the mentally challenged.
If your wife can't handle that kind of work, she should seek work elsewhere. It takes a Special Person to take care of mental patients. As for your wife wanting to press charges against the mental patient that is out of the question. The patient isn't responsible for their actions, but Your wife is supposed to be responsible for hers. and Kindness goes a long long ways, especially with mental patients..

Answer 10

Learn to accept it , or find another job.

To even mention sueing the patient, if the most f^&(% ing riduculous thing I've read in months.,Beat the crap out of the patient, kiss her job and license bye bye.

Thanks for a good laugh.