Maybe try listening…
Yesterday there was a mass shooting at a medical facility in Atlanta. In the recent past a nurse was murdered by a patient in North Carolina and there have been reports of nurses attempting and completing suicide in multiple states. These are by far, not the only stories of this nature. They are just the ones that came to mind as I sat on my couch one afternoon.
When I was a kid, schools, hospitals and police stations were considered places of safety. That is certainly not the case anymore. During my grad school program we talked a lot about the dangers that come with working in psychiatry and we were urged to question potential employers about safety plans. I have been a nurse long enough to know this is necessary but it doesn’t make it less troublesome.
It would be easy to think the dangers are related to mental illness and substance use but the truth is many situations can be dangerous…ER waiting rooms with extended wait times, visiting areas where hospital staff have to limit the number of visitors, exhausted hospital staff who are mandated to work extra shifts losing their patients and patience, stressed family members waiting for medical updates, uninsured patients worrying about the expense of healthcare and so many others. We take people in high stress jobs, mix them with patients who don’t feel well, and then add concerned family members who aren’t eating or sleeping properly. It shouldn’t be surprising when the powder keg erupts.
Its sad. It makes me sad that no place is safe. We are a society that needs instant gratification and has poor impulse control. We act or respond first, and think later. People are so desperate to have a need met or get even that they act or react aggressively.
This morning I read an article saying that 30% of nurses want to leave the profession because of feeling exhausted and overworked (Mandowara & Leo, 2023). More than half of them said that half of them said that their safety was an issue. With nurses continuing to leave the professions the issues discussed above will be further exacerbated.
Like so many things, we are stuck in a vicious cycle and it certainly doesn’t seem likely it will get better any time soon. How do we provide the care that people need and also keep those providing the care safe? Its not an easy task and like most things it probably isn’t inexpensive but something has to give.
I definitely am not writing with any answers but I do know that the only way we get to solutions is if people keep talking about issues. This is one more problem in an already strained and irretrievably broken system. Preliminary reports suggest that the suspect in the Atlanta shooting was frustrated that he wasn’t getting the medication he believed he needed. He was not being listened to or heard. I’m certain those denying the medications also felt unheard, that their assessments and concerns about the medication were bring ignored. Maybe that is the one reminder I can give…really try to listen to those you interact with. REALLY listen instead of just crafting your response.
My thoughts are with the families of those who were injured or lost in Atlanta but I know that is a small and empty gesture. I will however commit to keep talking about the issues in the healthcare system.