Abuse to Workers in Nursing Homes is More Common Than We Think

You hear more commonly on the news or in the papers about the abuse that happen in nursing homes. But normally it is about the patient/resident receiving the abuse. We often forget about the aides and nurses whom work at these facilities. After speaking with a current aid, whom we'll call Mrs. G, it appears that abuse toward the aides and nurses are a lot more common than we think.

Mrs. G currently works at a nursing home and rehabilitation center in Kettering, Ohio. She has worked there for about 3 months. This is her first job since she received her STNA certification.

On Wednesday , Sept. 13 around 11:30am the unexpected happened to her while she was trying to get a patient up into his wheelchair. She says that her superior had instructed her to get the patient up in the wheelchair even though he had refused to cooperate with her earlier that morning.

According to Mrs. G the patient started to become violent. The next thing she knew she was being hit, first in her ear, then in her jaw. The resident then grabbed her wrist with his left hand and put his right hand behind her elbow and proceeded to push. The other aid that was present, was able to break him off of her. While they proceeded to get him in the wheel chair he was able to hit her in the neck. Before she could move away the resident then kicked her in the stomach, and a couple of times in her legs.

After being brutally assaulted by this resident she filed an accident report with the nursing home. She chose, at that time, not to seek medical attention. She suffered a severe headache and chose to see a physician on Friday. Turns out that Mrs. G was suffering from a concussion along with some swelling on her face and bruises on her arms and legs. Mrs. G's doctors advised her to be off work for a few days.

According to Mrs. G she will return back to work when given the okay from the physicians. She states that this is not the first time that a nurse/aid has been assaulted by a resident.

In conclusion, hearing about Mrs. G's story we now understand how hard it is to have such an emotional and physical job such as she has. Lets hope these nursing homes can create a protocol that would prevent stories such as Mrs. G's from happening. We wish her luck with her future residents and hope she recovers soon.