I got beat up by an old lady today
By Trace86
@Trace86 (5030)
United States
April 7, 2009 10:01pm CST
Today at the nursing home didn't start well. The Department of Health had a surveyor in the building today. She was not nice or friendly. More rude and demanding.
Then, after the resident's lunch, one of the residents, an 80 year old woman with an insatiable appetite, got upset when I told her she couldn't go back into the dining room because lunch was over. She has a habit of going back in and foraging off discarded trays before they are picked up. She makes a royal mess and is at least 50lbs overweight.
Anyway, to redirect her, I put my hand on the armrest of her chair to stop her from going in. She grabbed my arm with both hands, squeezed and dug her nails in hard.
One of the doctors was a witness and said I needed to do an incident report. I didn't want to because of the state lady being there. She said I didn't need to put up with being assaulted like that. (That seems to be a major component of my job description lately.) The doctor actually went to my boss and told her because she knew I wouldn't! I got called to the office and had to show my arm, which by this time was a big, red, angry looking welt with 6 long scratch marks.
I talked them out of the work of a full-fledged incident report and into just a behavior occurrence sheet for the ill-behaved resident. They wanted me to do a workman's comp report too. For scratches that will be gone in a few days and probably leave a bruise for a week? I don't think so.
That came out much longer than I intended. So how is your week going?
5 people like this
6 responses
@ktosea (2026)
• China
8 Apr 09
bad luck of you,but if you don't want to do an incident report I guess you are ready to let it go,after all,she is just an old lady and we could be broad-minded sometimes,don't let the incident affect your mood today.you should be happy for youself for your generosity
have a good day
2 people like this
@RobinJ (2501)
• Canada
8 Apr 09
I think that the people that were trying to get you to do an incident report to cover their butts, if the lady's family talked to the lady and she told them you forced her to remain in her chair, that could be considered assault, as well if the injury done to your arm results in a very bad infection and you have to go off on compensation again they have an incident report to show what actually happened. the other thing might be if the lady in question does this sort of thing fairly often then she might have to be placed in facilities where they can subdue angry, destructive combative residents and an incident report will assist in that move as well. Perhaps you place of work only takes care of residents that are manageable. Because you should not ever be assaulted by a resident ever, you can be seriously hurt not just with scratches but end up on disability for life.I hope this works out for you but next time perhaps you should put in an incident report when requested to do so, even if it means a bit more work for you
2 people like this
@Trace86 (5030)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I probably would have done the report, except that the state lady was hanging on our every move most of the day. I didn't want to make the day any harder for my DON.
This lady has been having escalating behavior lately. The doctor wrote an order for the psychiatrist to evaluate for increased aggression.
I wasn't trying to keep her in her chair, but out of the dining room so she wouldn't make a huge mess or, heaven forbid, choke. She is on a puree diet and often tries to steal "regular" food. It would have been awful to have to do the Heimleich in front of the state lady.
1 person likes this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
17 Apr 10
Hi, Trace86. I know that you did not want to do an incident report on this old lady, but I would have done one on her. She bruised you badly and she is an threat to the other residents at this facility too. I am sorry that this happened to you. I hope that they will keep an close watch on this woman. She is very wild!
1 person likes this
@Wizzywig (7847)
•
20 Apr 10
Unfortunately, as I'm sure you'vre discovered, this type of incident is very common in nursing homes and hospitals. I work on an acute medical ward where many of the patients are quite old and, they frequently lash out with fists and feet. Some of them have a pretty good grip and they do tend to have long-ish nails (We are not allowed to cut them for them) There are signs up everywhere around the hospital saying that they have a zero tolerance policy on verbal and physical assault but, if all the incidents were correctly processed they'd need so many admin staff that there would be no funding left for frontline workers who are on the receiving end of the abuse. The problem is, that, if it becomes too much trouble/fuss to report it, people think the workers dont matter. You definitely need to have the incident documented because we both know what sort of stuff old ladies might have under their fingernails
& you could be at risk of infection.
& you could be at risk of infection.1 person likes this
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I'm glad you are ok! So many people hear about the patients in nursing homes that are abused, we forget that the caretakers themselves are frequently subjected to abuse.
The doctor should do a workup on that woman to see if there's a medical reason why she has an insatiable appetite. Poorly controlled diabetes, or electrolyte imbalances can cause that behavior.
1 person likes this
@Trace86 (5030)
• United States
8 Apr 09
She is diabetic and has terrible dementia. She didn't remember that she just ate. She denied being hungry 5 minutes before, but keeps coming back to the dining room. I wonder if it has something to do with the depression and wondering if she will ever get another meal. We have several residents who are prone to hoarding food.
1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
7 May 10
Such incidents are common in my place too. The old lady must have done in a fit of anger or stress, better to forgive her lol..
Thanks for sharing.
God bless you.
Cheers.
Prof
God bless you.
Cheers.
Prof
1 person likes this
