Violence is rising in the healthcare setting. According to the American Hospital Association, 44% of nurses reported experiencing physical violence, and 68% reported experiencing verbal abuse nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic as of June 2022.
Unfortunately, we know this reality to also be true at Summa Health. It is estimated that 3% of patients are considered violent on a daily basis. Violent situations make it more challenging for nurses and other staff to provide quality patient care, especially when they fear for their safety.
We have asked our nurses and staff, regardless of where they work or what they do at Summa Health, to share the stories of their experiences. Their stories deserve to be heard. Please take a few moments to click through the gallery and read their stories.
With the permission of staff, we will share this collection of stories with local, state and federal legislators. We hope to bring about real change as there is currently no federal law that protects healthcare workers in violent situations. We are hopeful that sharing stories of the violence encountered in the healthcare setting will help influence the passage of The Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act.
Thank you for taking the time to hear the voices of those who encounter difficult situations while caring for our patients.
I have worked in health care for the past 9 years. I started as a nursing companion. I would sit one on one with psychiatric and confused patients. I experienced physical abuse constantly. I have been hit, pinched, and spit on. I have been bit multiple times. I have been kicked so hard in the stomach I had to go to the emergency room for imaging. I have been called every name under the sun. I was told by a patient that when he got out of the hospital, he would find where I lived and rape me before he killed me and my family. As I went through nursing school, I continued to experience both the physical and verbal abuse from patients thinking I have seen it all. I started my nursing career in the Emergency Room. Let me start by saying I love being an ER nurse. I don't think I would be happy working anywhere else but with that being said, I experience verbal abuse daily and physical abuse more than I should. It's extremely frustrating to love what you do but be belittled because it never feels like you are doing enough. It's hard to pick just one incident of abuse that sticks out to me because it has become a part of the job.
I was working at the triage desk on a busy night and also happened to be 9 months pregnant at the time. I had a man and women come to the window demanding immediate medical attention due to a MVA that happened earlier in the day. They had not obvious trauma just CO of pain. I took them back to vital them and sent them back out to wait as there was no provider and no rooms and I was by myself with registration. They became and angry and cussed and screamed eventually leading the male to say," I outta drag your ass out in the street and shoot you bitch, you deserve to die". I called for a code violet over head to get staff to triage. Protective services came and let the patients stay b/c they could not deny them medical care and said it was not a direct threat because the man said, "I outta" and not that he would. They never were checked for a weapon and we did not have medical detectors at the time. They continued to be allowed to menace me for another hour until they yelled at a provider and were then escorted out. I left in tears feeling unprotected and not valued. Violence is tolerated. I went on maternity leave early because I did not feel that I could protect my unborn baby.
Approximately 7 years ago I was working on an inpatient unit and my patient's were in semi-private rooms. One room had a very ill elderly man and a very demanding middle age man. I was providing care to the elderly man and the other patient became increasingly verbally aggressive so I voicera'd security. As security was entering the room they witnessed the patient verbally threaten to put his hands around my neck and choke the life out of me. I left the patient with security and went to my manager. Security spoke with the patient and manager and they had the patient apologize to me and I was required to continue to care for the patient for the remainder of the shift and their was no consequence for the patient . In addition I was called from different departments that day because that patient was found sneaking off the floor and I would have to retrieve him and bring him back to his room. For several months after this event I was so fearful coming on and off the unit that the patient might pop out from any given doorway.
Thank you for sharing this opportunity. I have been a medical social worker for more than 15 years in a variety of settings. I always forgive my patients (most with cognitive disorders) for being verbally or physically aggressive. It's not their fault, and I've learned a number of verbal/nonverbal techniques to even avoid or minimize a situation. I have had two family members though who still give me pause and the occasional nightmare. Both have been within my time at Summa, but prepandemic. Both of these families have been banned from the clinic because of their actions. Both were similar situations. Caregiver hadn't demonstrated any particular signs of being unstable or upset in prior interactions. I asked my routine questions regarding functional status. The caregiver got upset this time and started screaming at me loud enough to be heard in the back hallways with a finger pointed within inches of my nose. I can still see that finger jammed between my eyes like a dagger with spit flying over my face. This was prepandemic, so no mask to protect me. I was terrified both times and quickly and calmly apologized and left the room. One time the family member stayed in the room, the other time the family member followed me down the hallway screaming at me. The provider intercepted the exchange and escorted them out of the clinic area. Both incidents, I went back to the back hallway of offices to hide and calm down. I've been told that the caregiver who followed me, still cares for his loved one and comes to Summa. He's been seen by our inpatient care team and has been appropriate with staff. He was appropriate with me every other time until the last time! I only had 10 minutes to calm down, then I felt I had to go right back to work and do the same things. Ask the same questions. I am sure I could have asked for more time, but didn't want to let down the provider who needed my help. I think that's the hardest thing. It's not the incident, but it's feeling the pressure to jump right back in. Sure everyone asked if I was ok, and to a degree I was. But in truth, I wasn't. I was scared he was going to find out my name and stalk me. I was scared he was going to see me in the hospital and hurt me. I was scared he was going to figure out where I live. I was just scared, but I had a job to do, so I kept myself to myself. And I kept coming to work.
Approx 18 years ago a visitor came in and screaming and yelling. He told my employee that he was going to slap the shit out of her. I called protective services and the visitor never calmed down and repeated the threat to my employee, in front of protective services. They had to physically remove him. After the incident my director said that I it was not appropriate for me to call protective services. My director was aware of the threat. My director stated maybe my employee had said or done something that they needed the shit slapped out of them. I was stunned. I was threatened with a discipline if I ever did something like that again. I asked something like what and was told if I called security on a visitor again. Actions like my directors is one reason why violence and threats keep increasing. I don't think Summa took verbal and physical abuse seriously. I am hopeful that they will now take threats and violence as an important issue.
While this did not happen to me at Summa, it's still in my memory as my most uncomfortable experience practicing as a Nurse Practitioner. While working as a Hospitalist NP at Aultman in Canton, OH, I was visiting a new patient on the Orthopedic floor as a consult. When I entered the room, he immediately began making innuendos about "what he'd like to do with me" and continued to do so for the visit (which I abruptly cut short). It's happened on several occasions that a male patient would make inappropriate comments, but this was different and felt threatening. His room was the last at the end of a quiet hall, and he said something to the effect that he could "have sex with me right now and no one would hear' because of the location of the room. At one point, he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him, telling me he was going to kiss me. I tried to redirect him without success. I left the room feeling dirty and frustrated. I felt as though I wasn't given respect as a professional; had I been a male, he wouldn't have (likely) said such offensive things. I feel as a female, males often think it's perfectly fine to comment on a woman's appearance, ask them "out" or make other off-color comments, even in a setting of a professional relationship. No one should ever be made to feel as uncomfortable as I did that day. I mentioned it to a few of the nurses on the floor who I considered friends when I left the room, but never reported it because I felt as though it wouldn't be addressed anyway - the expectation seems to be that we are supposed to "deal with it" when patients are out of line.
I am a unit supervisor on the HLU (ICU). Heard a patient yelling/cursing. Went into the room to see what the problem was. Patient was attempting to pull out foley and IV. Attempted to stop patient from harming self. Explained ramifications of patient pulling these lines out and that he would be injured. Patient was calling me names, cursing, screaming and swatting me away. Patient stated, "I can talk to you any way I want. I'm the patient" Just an example of what nursing deals with on a regular basis.
I had a patient act out and lock herself in the shower, when I worked on Adult psych. I opened the door and she lunged at me about 3 times scratching me with her very long nails, She tore open the skin on my arm and I have about a 4inch scar , I am thankful for my NVCI training because if I didn't turn my arm around it would have been worse and if I didn't put my arms over my head it would have been my face with the scar on it. This is just one instance I also have been kicked pinched spit at when sitting with a patient one on one.
I work in the registration department at the Main campus of Summa. I have over my 5 years with the department experienced many instances of verbal aggression from patients as well as their family members, as well as several attempts at physical violence of some type. I have had things thrown at me, I have had items grabbed out of my hands and off of my desk top, and even had patients attempt to grab at my arm or hand to get my attention. The worse occasion however was a family member in Labor and Delivery, who received some unhappy news, hop over the desk top and attempted to grab me because I was unable to give them any additional information. I was able to get out of the way before any physical harm could come to me, however it was a very scary and potentially dangerous situation.
This happened about 14 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was working on a Friday afternoon after everyone had left as I was the one covering the office until 5:00 p.m. A very large male standing at least 6'7" and weighing over 350 pounds came in demanding I give him his cell phone. He was enraged and yelling and lunging at me. He said he had been on the behavioral health unit and no one would give him his cell phone. He was very irate and insistent that we were trying to get information from his phone to use against him. I tried to calm him down and contacted the unit to find out about his phone. He began pounding his fists on my desk as the nurse's desk informed me over the phone that he would need to check with security. I was terrified at this point and just wanted to get to the door because I felt so trapped. I jumped up and got to the door. He said, "Bitch you better run. No one is leaving if I don't get my phone." At this point I was panicking and offered to walk him to security assuring him that he could get his phone there. When we got to the security office, no one was in the locked office at that time. He then proceeded to try to kick in the door multiple times while yelling someone was going to die if he didn't get his cell phone. I ran to the front desk of Cardiac Services and asked the woman at the front desk to call the main line and to have security come immediately as it was an emergency. Our security officer finally came and took over from there. This was one of the most frightening moments of my life. I had a baby at home under a year old and I really thought I was going to die that day. This man was terrifying, and I felt like if I left him it would put others in harms way. The next day, I told the other assistant in our office about it and asked her to speak with our leadership team about having badge access put on our door. She dismissed it saying it was inappropriate for us to the lock the door. I am so happy to share this story so those of us that are not direct patient care will also be included. I have had many moments where patients and patient family members have shouted at me, called me names, cussed at me, and were very upset. I have deescalated many situations during my time at Summa. This was an entirely different situation that I was not prepared for. This man was enraged and completely out of control.
I work in an outpatient lab so many different people come through our offices everyday but there's also reoccurring patients that come through as well to get tested monthly for medicines etc. One day we had one of our reoccurring patients come through to get blood work done for the medicine they take. I should note that this patient has a mental illness and the work we do is to make sure that they are in fact taking said medicine. Everything was fine at first until we unknowingly set off one of their triggers and for the next 45 minutes I was verbally abused by this person. I was told that I was ugly, disgusting, a nazi, many other name calling and verbal slurs along with being told I would be executed on live television. I had never experienced such verbal violence from anyone in my life and it lives on repeat throughout my head. Thankfully physical violence wasn't apart of the encounter that day but there was a threat and I didn't know what to do, I went into work that day expecting nothing less than a normal day and left not knowing how safe I really was at work.
I have been employed in health care for over 30 years. I have been threatened/called names too many times to count, ('I will kill you', F*you, B*tch). I have been attacked by a patient in a wheelchair who lunged at me and started to choke me trying to pull me on the hospital bed on top of him. He tore up my shirt and my necklace/chain. Staff and security ran to my rescue-it took two officers to get his hands off my neck. I had a patient on the unit grab me, push me against his body and started kissing me. I had a patient on the unit flip a large table against me.
At appointment with patient (older lady with cancer, who is hard of hearing) and daughter, as I was talking through the mask, patient could not hear me. She had also seen her scans and reports through Mychart. She had poor technical understanding of report but was adamant that referring doctor had not told her cancer was worse. In order for her to hear me, I had to start speaking at a higher volume. Her daughter got upset stating no one should be talking to anyone like that, got up and slammed the door on my face (figuratively). Other patients and families witnessed this situation.
I was sitting at the video monitor watching a young female with suicidal ideation. The nurse went in to have the patient change into a gown and secure her clothing and belongings. At that point she became very hostile and combative. She left the room in an attempt to leave so I, along with other staff were attempting to stop her. She was yelling and screaming threatening staff members We got her stopped in the outer hallway and at that time she slapped the glasses off my face, scratching my arm. Before I could recover from that she struck me in the head with, what I found out latter to be, a small back pack. She also punched me in the nose causing it to bleed. profusely. She also bit and punched another paramedic.
I was working on the Behavioral health unit as a Protective Service officer. A client had brought 2 knives on the unit. As I was helping him to check in a fight ensued and he stabbed me 7 times. The staff and I were able to finally restrain him, but the damage to me had been done. He was eventually taken into police custody and jailed for an 8 year sentence.
I had helped a patient with his symptoms through out his cancer treatment. He completed his chemotherapy, with no further evidence of disease. As his symptoms were reduced- I began to wean down his pain and symptom medication. During our last visit together, he brought up to me that it was amazing that our cancer center did not have any metal detectors. He then told me his was thinking of me as he drove in that morning because a professional athlete had gone and shot and injured a provider because he stopped his pain medication.
I was delivering a food tray as a redirected employee during Covid because staffing was low. This was not my normal job. I brought the food tray in and the male patient had his filled bedside urinal in his hand. He was yelling and aggressive and wanted help. I told him i was unable to and to push his call light and i would tell someone- he didn't like my answer and he threw his filled urinal of urine all over me.
I have been the victim of verbal and physical assaults by patients, as a healthcare worker, countless times. Verbal assaults have ranged in severity from disorderly speech and vulgar language to racist statements, degrading insults and even threats of harm to my family and me. For example, I have received numerous threats of death and violence to include examples like “When I get outta here, I’m comin for you and your family”, “You better hope I don’t see you outside of here”, “I will fuck you up”, “I’ll be waiting for you when you get off”, and so on. Some of these verbally abusive threats are empty and just stop at verbal abuse, but a lot of these verbally abusive threats turn into action and cause injury to me and those around me. Being the victim of ongoing physical abuse in a healthcare setting is not only difficult on the body, but on the mind as well. The mental trauma have ranged from sleepless nights and paranoia to symptomatic PTSD effects like insomnia, flash-backs, irritability, depression, and anxiety. The mental aspect is difficult to overcome, but I am able to do so through my relationship with Christ, a strong marriage with my wife, and overall familial support, as well as colleague support. While I have hope that the mental toll will soften, unfortunately, the physical injuries linger and hinder my everyday life. I have had multiple injuries from scratches and bruises to hospital visits to be a patient myself for musculoskeletal injuries and concussions. I have been slapped, kicked, kneed, scratched, pushed, pulled, bitten, spit upon, elbowed, punched, and hit with objects and bodily fluids. While sitting with a patient one to one as a constant companion, the patient (approximately 6’1”, 300 lbs) became irate because she was told she couldn’t have a snack. When she began to punch a window, I called for help and attempted to save the patient from hurting herself and damaging property. After a big struggle, we were able to place her into four-point locking restraints for her safety and the safety of staff and other patients. Immediately following everyone leaving the room (besides me), the patient slipped her left wrist out of the restraint. I called out for help again and was able to begin reapplying the restraint. The patient was resisting and flailing her arm. Once I was able to finally begin securing the restraint, she yanked my arm and pulled me on top of her. At this time, I heard a “pop” coming from my shoulder. It was later determined that the patient had separated my clavicle and AC Joint. I was removed from work and in a sling for a number of weeks. It was difficult for me to keep up financially, receiving under sixty percent of my normal pay. Years later, this injury still affects my everyday life and is constantly in variable amounts of pain and discomfort. Another incident occurred while trying to encourage a patient, who was a fall precaution, back to his bed. I had a friend with me assisting in the same way. After multiple attempts at verbal redirection, I lightly tapped the patient’s right triceps with my fingertips for further guidance. At this time, the patient lunged at me, repeatedly striking me in the face and head with a closed fist while yelling racial slurs directed towards me. The patient was there for alcohol intoxication, but had been taken care of for over four hours. I had to be assisted away from the scene and into a hospital bed where I was seen for a concussion, bruising, and head ache. There are multiple other stories that I could share. I have been scratched to bloodshed, thrust kicked in the genitals multiple times, spit upon multiple times in the face, and bitten so hard to leave teeth marks for days. In the State of Ohio, Assault on a Healthcare Worker is only a Misdemeanor of the first degree. It takes one more time, if they’re even convicted of the first, to make it a Felony of the fifth degree. As you know, there is no Federal Law protecting us Healthcare workers from the heinous acts of violence described above, described by other healthcare workers in this group, and most likely could be described by almost every healthcare worker at some point in their career. My wife and I have dedicated our lives to healthcare and to providing the upmost compassionate and highly skilled care. It is humanely offensive that we have to be subjected to the abuse that we encounter every week. Laws need to be put in place and prosecution needs to be more deliberate to protect all of us. I’m sure the number of reported assaults is overwhelming, but I’m willing to bet the number of unreported cases are far more overwhelming. Healthcare workers don’t want to press charges and they make it a point to share that the reason is that “nothing will happen anyway”. Healthcare workers do not feel protected and do not feel safe. Although I would encourage any victim to seek justice, I share the outrage and frustration about the lack of accountability. I would urge the Federal Government to take another look at Healthcare workers, especially after the care that was spotlighted through the COVID-19 pandemic. You say healthcare workers are heroes. Prove that you mean that. Not only do I urge the Federal Government to implement law, I urge The State of Ohio to change the current ORC and make first time offense assault on a Healthcare Worker a Felony and implement at least a minimum sentence.
As a healthcare worker that works directly with patients, verbal abuse is guaranteed daily, no matter which department. I work in food service, where I have been responsible for taking meal orders in person and over the phone, and delivering meals to patients. Numerous patients have called me stupid or uneducated and screamed at me because they couldn't get certain items on their diets ordered by their physicians. The worst encounter I've had was a patient try to kiss me while I was attempting to show him the menu to take his meal order. He made a kissing face and luckily I moved away before he touched me. I was new at the job and didn't think to tell my manager. I thought it was just something I had to deal with because patients are confused and we have to brush it off. Looking back, I wish I would have spoken up. The patient seemed aware of what he was doing. I've also had patients throw cups or dump their trays on the ground right by my feet because their order wasn't correct or they didn't feel like eating. If this happens in just the brief moments I spend with patients, I can't help but feel so sorry for nurses and techs that have to be with abusive patients their entire shift. I feel lucky this is the worst of it, as I have co-workers that have stories as well. Patients are angry and seem like they feel entitled to be. Healthcare workers deserve to be respected while taking care of others, and should be able to act when patients are pushing the boundaries.
I have so many stories of verbal abuse from families and family members over my 32 year nursing career that it almost seems part of the job now. That is sad to say but it's the truth. Especially during the covid pandemic when talking with family members over the phone. I don't feel hospital administration has done enough to protect nurses from verbally aggressive patients and families. The only reason I haven't been physically assaulted during my career is probably because I'm male.
I had a patient who had a declining condition and needed to have a family meeting. I spoke to the patients daughter over the phone. She said her family was passionate. Her brother in the background said they were aggressive. I have had multiple family meetings but this was one of the few where I felt things could become violent. I had a nurse come in as a witness with me and had another outside with instructions to call a code violet if things seemed like they were escalating. During the meeting the patients son became verbally aggressive and abusive toward the staff. The meeting ended without physical violence but the feeling that it might escalate was constant.
When I was a nurse in the ER, I once had a patient try to break my wrist as I was inserting a catheter per the physician's order. He was squeezing my wrist with all of his strength with both hands. I had to yell to my co-workers for help, and thankfully two male nurses heard me and were able to get the patient off of me. I have also been called countless names and have been sworn at so often that it was just accepted as part of the territory. When I would work late into the night, I would often have security drive me to my car as I feared irate patients would be waiting for me to leave in the parking lot after my shifts were over.
Unfortunately facing abuse (verbal, physical, etc.) is something I, as well as many of my coworkers, are used to. It is often that we have patients/visitors that become violent and verbally aggressive towards staff. I have been called every name in the book. On my unit, we have been hit, spit at, etc. It is safe to safe that our security/police staff are often making appearances on my unit. Recently, I had a family member of a patient rip my badge of my chest and threaten to shoot me with a gun. It was a distressful situation, as I was only doing my job. That is only a small glimpse into what we face on a day to day basis. There are some days where I do not feel safe.
As a psychiatric nurse, we encounter both physical and mental abuse daily. Unfortunately, with the pandemic, jails were not accepting individuals that should have been in jail, and instead admitted them to the behavioral health units. This increased the amount of verbal and physical abuse we endured. In the years I have worked as a psychiatric nurse, emotional and verbal abuse occurs pretty regularly. Physical abuse has occurred off and on but has got much more frequent and violent since the start of the pandemic. Unfortunately, we are told that it is an occupational hazard and that if charged are filed, they would be dropped because the patient will use mental health as a tool to get them out of accepting any responsibility for their behavior. In talking with my co-workers, we do not feel safe, or protected, or heard. Our nurse manager has no mental health experience and does nothing to support us following a physical attach, nor does the organization offer much support. In fact, after we have used the few free sessions we get through the hospital, we have to use our own insurance and pay out of pocket for future mental health visits. It seems to that if we are in need of any mental health treatment, whether medications to help us with anxiety and depression to counseling, it should be a free service and associated with workers compensation since it was obtained on the job. How are we going to reduce the stigma of mental health if we don't take care of the people that suffer from PTSD-like symptoms that were obtained by simply caring for others? More support systems need to be in place for healthcare workers that are exposed to abuse, and healthcare system management should be required to take sensitivity training because those of us on the front lone feel very much alone in our fight.
Pt was alert and oriented young woman who was requesting pain medication. I was with another pt so her medication was 5 minutes late. she began throwing juice cups into the hallway and yelling. I went in to medicate her and she began to verbally assault me-using foul language and yelling at me. I called security and notified my manager. The pt told both individuals that it is a free country and she was allowed to talk to anyone however she wished and that it was not illegal and that they could not stop her. Security told me there was nothing they could do to stop her and left the unit. The manager told me to just accept that that's the way the pt acts and deal with it. It was a semi private room too and for the remaining shift when I went in the room to care for the roommate, the offending pt would throw things at my head and say foul things .I felt like I was being bullied again like in school.
I had a patient going through alcohol withdrawal. I was emptying his foley. As I was emptying foley, he kicked me in the head repeatedly. I was able to get away from him. I was seen in the ER and sent home the next day I had light sensitivity, N/V, disequilibrium. By day 3 I was profoundly aphasic. I was eventually diagnosed with pseudo-bulbular affect and a severe TBI. A shortened version is I was in TBI Rehab which included speech, PT, OT and cognitive rehab. 3 days a weeks 4 hours a day. I could not work for 9 months. I had chronic headaches and lost my ability to drive for months. I had to see a psychologist to help deal with the changes in my Neuro abilities. I still have speech issues but they are dramatically improved. I have vision changes and lost some of my hearing in my left ear.
When caring for a paraplegic, HIV (+) patient during a high-volume interval, the patient threatened and then DID throw their bedpan containing stool at me when pain meds were not given within 5 minutes of the allowed window. Shouted, 'Hope you get AIDS, bitch!'
I have been working in healthcare since 1978 when I started out as a nursing assistant in college and back then patients respected nurses and doctors. Violence at the healthcare workplace was very rare then I have experienced more threats of violence over the past 2 years. It seems like people are emboldened by e-mails and phone messages and they use these avenues to express their anger at healthcare providers. They seem to say things on emails and MyChart messages that they would never say in person but yet these messages still feel threatening because of their content (verbal threats).
My story is unique and not thought of as serious by anyone because I don't care for patients. I am the manager in the Food & Nutrition department. The AA morning meeting group would brew coffee and freely come into the kitchen and dump their coffee grounds down the garbage disposal. Multiple disposables were destroyed. I met with leaders asking that AA meeting participants not be allowed to come into the kitchen and destroy equipment which cost Summa money and it was also a Health Code violation for non food service workers to be in the kitchen, no one wanted to stop them. After another garbage disposable was destroyed the AA members I took it upon myself to tell AA they could no longer come into the kitchen and the reasons why. They continued to come in and verbally abuse staff who were telling them they were not allowed. The AA members came in again and I saw them as they were coming in the doors and told them again why they could not come in. The AA member yelled at the top of his lungs " get out of my way" I once again said I could not allow them to enter , my employees all came running to the doors. The AA member took the cart with the coffee pot and rammed it into me and splashed hot coffee on me. At this point he is really yelling and screaming and I am bracing myself to be hit again and backing up My employees called Protective Services. Two protective service officers came and told the AA member he had to leave and could not be in the kitchen. The AA member said he is allowed to be anywhere, the officers tell him " She is the manager and she does not want you here". A couple of days later my director calls me and tells me he had received a call from this AA member wanting him (my director) to grant him permission to come into the kitchen and dump the coffee. From my directors tone I knew he was going to tell me to let them come into the kitchen until I said "did he tell you he hit me with a cart and I got splashed with hot coffee?" Once I said that his tone changed and he said to put badge swipe access on the doors. Honestly I think of this incident all of the time, more than anything I am disappointed that it got this far to begin with.