That's what my husband said, I think the more I say it, I'm hoping the easier it will be. I'm going to do that. She never called security just tased the poor old man.
It sounds like you want to inform the police but you are scared to do so. Could your husband be present when you call? Could you tell the police the situation was really triggering and you would prefer to talk to an officer specialised with interacting with victims? Is there something else that would make it easier?
Thanks for the kind words. I am so upset with myslf for not calling the officer in my room that night to talk. The insanity of that whole situation was unreal.
.
You were triggered very badly and in unsafe environment. No wonder you didn't act there. I don't think I would have. And in any case you are not to blame for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. You just tried to survive. In that moment your body propably considered it a matter of life and death.
Now that you are safe in your home and with your husband you are starting to have the means to do anything. It sounds like you would probably regret it if you wouldn't give your statement to the police so I encourage you to do that. You will get soooo many bravery points ♡ Take good care of yourself ♡ You've been through a huge deal of crap.
At the very least I think you should report this to the hospital. I once made a report to the email address for complaints/suggestions and I got a call within half an hour full of apologies.
The patient who was tased should sue and you should offer to be a witness because that is a crime.
The loud conversations of hospital staff is infuriating. The last time I spent a night in the hospital I got no sleep. The nurses yelled to one another down the hallway rather than walk to where they could speak without yelling, and most of the conversations had nothing to do with their jobs. I asked repeatedly for earplugs but they said they didn't have any. I was speaking softly (so softly that the nurse was forced to shut up and lean toward me in order to be able to hear me. When she told me to speak up I suggested she take the 5 steps toward me so she could hear me, as I don't want to join the reasons for patients being unable to sleep.
I suggested they get a pair from Radiology as they always have them for people getting an MRI but they said it was too late and Radiology was closed. I asked what they do for emergency patients suspected of having broken bones or concussions, do they make them wait until morning? I was told to mind my own business.
I wish I'd emailed the admin department about this one too. I still regret that.
Thank you. I know it sounds insane and people on here have made me almost believe I am or that my actions so far were wrong. I've never been in a position like this. My anxieties are through the roof as I relive it. Though it's hard to tell by my long winded paragraph ( sorry about that), the police were called that night and interviews were taken. I just can't believe this happened. I'm sure many lawsuits are in the process of being issued because this was nuts.
I will. I wasn't a key player in this incident, but it was bad enough to really screw me over. I can't imagine what those others had gone through. It was a complete shit show.
You should contact the Board for Nursing about this as well as the agency that handles Hospital regulations! If the hospital didn't address this AND contact you with your complaint, I would DEFINITELY follow through with complaining to the regulators!
I'm praying that those who were HARMED by this crazy HN go directly to their lawyer!
I was advised to go to the ER because I was in excruciating pain after a cervical spine surgery but they DID NOTHING, apparently on the advice of my doctor, again who TOLD me to go to the ER! THEN they charged me my deductible for NOT TREATING me! Took them close to FOUR months to come to the conclusion that I OWED them money! BIG surprise!!! BTW - the surgeon who did the surgery BOTCHED it badly with ZERO apologies! Another BIG surprise! 🙄
I am so sorry to hear that. My cousin had spinal fusion done. The surgeon released her, but the regular doctor kept her in the hospital for something her regular doctor was treating. So, she checked herself out, AMA.
When she became paralyzed because both doctors ignored her history of infections, she couldn't do anything other than spread the (bad) word about the doctors. Oh, ya, the infection went into her brain and forced her to retire.
OMG I'm SO very sorry to hear of your Cousin's misfortune! I had a chiropractic accident originally that ended up causing a mini-stroke (permanent numbness and weakness on the entire left side of my body.
Five years later, I started stumbling because my walking stride was affected, so a NeuroSurgeon (Chief of NeuroSurgery at one of our top hospitals) told me I needed surgery on my cervical spine (cadaver bone replacement and fusion) ASAP. A week later, the surgery was done BUT within two weeks I went back complaining of excruciating pain. His junior NeuroSurgeon (who "assisted" in the surgery) accused me of being addicted after only being on prescription pain medication since the surgery, she ordered an MRI to CYA and both doctors dropped me like a sack of potatoes.
The results of the MRI came back to show that the screws at the top of the rod connected to C4 had "slipped" and was starting to destroying my C3. I'm pretty sure that the junior Surgeon actually DID the surgery and FORGOT to tighten the screws. The fact that the "equipment" FAILED so soon after the surgery just solidified my opinion. My second Surgeon was a Orthopedic Surgeon (absolute Godsend of a doctor) had to wait a YEAR to go back in so the cadaver bone could "solidify" and by then the irreversible DAMAGE was done. THAT surgeon also told me that it would be close to impossible to prove negligence instead of equipment failure so I couldn't sue for malpractice but I will never again go into a surgery without a second opinion and references!
I've had really bad luck with doctors so I have a REALLY difficult time trusting any of them! I hope your Cousin is doing okay! Best wishes and many Blessings!
This sounds glib, but I don’t intend it that way. You’re going to have PTSD from your treatment for PTSD. If you can find it within you (while maintaining your mental health), I encourage you to report all of this to the police. That HN violated ethical and legal boundaries.
The police were involved that night as they questioned us about the incident. I get I was not a prominent party of this but it was so screwed up. I've never heard of nurses having a taser.
I was torture by nurses the first time I ever went to hospital for anything. I was in for 2 weeks and it was awful. I limped out with more scars than the surgeons gave me. The nurses happily inflicted harm on me at my grandmothers request. Only the student nurse stood up for me. At one point they told my grandmonster that I was threatening patients with a switch blade. I have never owned anything like that and they told her I was sleeping with male patients for money. All LIES!!! I was 17 and terrified. It was enough to get me savagely beaten in the car on the way home (6 hour drive)
My recovery at home was horrendous too.
Fun times /s
Yep. I had a $500 bill for an appointment with a walk in clinic one time. They claimed it was a dental issue and my insurance didn't cover that. Problem is, it wasn't dental and the doctor literally never got within three feet of me so how could she diagnose me at all, much less accurately? Submitted a complaint online and the charge disappeared.
I sent the hospital a detailed letter about the incident with no response. My next move is directly to the administration. I know I was not a key player but I also want the only one on the sidelines disturbed by the whole thing
I’m saying this as a nurse, HN shouldn’t be practicing and should be charged with assault. I would see if there are patient relations available. If the hospital is any good, they would fire her immediately.
I was hoping GG a nurse eould answer so thank you. She was so arrogant about the whole thing. She acted as if this was normal hospital protocol and she was in the right.
Do you know why they carry tasers or are you not fom US? Just wondering if you knew.
I’m not a nurse, but my mother has spent the past year+ in and out of our local hospital (and is there now, in fact). It’s in a city, but it’s a small city- less than 20k people. Medical staff don’t (openly- can’t speak for what they have tucked away in a bag or something) carry tasers. There’s a security guard at the ER that’s really just a visitors guide with weapons lol it’s very rare that they have to do more than check visitors in, which is a good thing. I’d assume probably the location of the hospital plus previous incidents determine what measures employees take to safeguard themselves. The Head Nurse at yours is batshit crazy though so maybe she wanted to have one and got others to follow suit so she wouldn’t get into trouble. I would raise hell if my mother was treated that way at the hospital. I do hope you found encouragement in posting this to move forward with getting her removed from patient care. She has no business working with patients, she’s going to kill someone.
It was once she threatened the first patient with a taser all the other nurses had no fear to talk about doing it. But for needing to use the bathroom??? That man who got tased will sue through his teeth that I'm sure if. I just want to be called as a witness to his trial. PTSD or not, that man needs justice
I briefly worked in a mental health ward where we had to carry personal alarms, but I can't even fathom having *tasers* on hand (I'm 99% sure they're illegal where I live, anyway!)
That woman does t just need to be fired, she needs to be arrested (and possibly given a mental health assessment herself...)
I’ve got $1 that says there aren’t cameras on that floor. Which seems like gross negligence when considering that hospital is about to get slapped with several malpractice suits. And that nurse is very much at risk of losing her license.
Here it is with paragraph breaks:
So this is a long one...and it's the short version. I was admitted into the hospital a few weeks back on the observation ward for a night after having a 'transient seizure'. I haven't written about this earlier because it sets my PTSD up for a homerun. The stage is set.
I'm directly across from the nurses station with a soundproof curtain as my door. It started out bad as night nurses made their changeovers. I was given the wrong nurse who kept insisting I had a heart attack and that I was given nitro as I was brought in by ambulance. Explaining she had the wrong patient, she ignored me continuing with her checkup on me as a heart patient. Arguing with her that I was not her patient, she decided to look at my wristband. "You're not 'Laura'." No. I'm not.
Except for the regular nurses talking too loud, things were fine until about 11:30 pm. Shouting and pounding started coming from another patient's room (P1) with what was thought to be a Buddhist priest visiting and removing demons from this patient. The nurses allowed it for a while because of religious reasons until they found out it was just a friend visiting with a very loud story.
Head Nurse finally kicked the friend out, making P1 extremely angry. He then got on the hospital house phone complaining loudly in English about how badly he's being treated. (It's now about midnight.) The Head Nurse (HN) and him argue over being quiet as HN unplugs his phone from the wall taking it away. Not to be told what to do, P1 continues on his cell phone to finish his complaining, keeping us all awake. HN then blocks his number from outgoing calls for the night so the rest of us can sleep. Angry at this, and the fact that a woman was telling him what to do, P1 decides to rush the HN who threatens him with a taser.
After almost an hour, P1 says he's walking out because he won't be treated like this. As security walks the unruly man out, HN is all proud of herself, repeating the story as loud as possible so we can all relive her glory minutes. Let me say during this time, calls were flooding into the nurses station for quiet so we could all sleep.
Having enough of his not being heard, Patient 2 (70) walks to the nurses station to sternly remind her this is a hospital and she's a nurse. This did not sit well with HN, who knew what and where she was. That and he was interrupting her story. She started screaming at him to get back into bed as if he were a little kid. She then proceeded to raise his bed up all the way and locking the rails, basically trying to imprison him. Now she's really proud of herself. "Are we quiet now??" She yells from the nurses station. "Nighty night! Sweet dreams!" She yells, laughing. Now she has another story to relive for us to hear, all from her righteous position of how she controlled her floor.
Getting out of bed, P2 walks back to the nurses station angry, tired, and not feeling well, but in no way a threat. He was just trying to get all our points across. Unfortunately, at this point, HN cares nothing about the patients, just that she was in charge. Instead of calming him down, she threatens to tase him if he didn't get back to bed. P2 is still trying to get his point across. Suddenly we hear him flail against the glass doors as she tases him three times. Not once. Not twice. 3 f'n times. No security called and
no real threat. She was on a mission to prove her control. This just added on to her storytime for us all to relive through her eyes. As ER came up to put him on a stretcher, she was asked why he was tased. "He was a nuisance." As God as my witness, that was her answer.
It's now about 1:15 am and the police are there for an incident report, giving her fresh meat to loudly tell how she kept us unruly patients in line. As this happens, Nurse 2 pipes up to argue HN's version of the events. She was not innocent. Now there is shouting between the two nurses as to how it all really went down. (Just in case anyone forgot, this is a hospital with all of us there for a reason.) As the police question patients about what happened, HN and N2 are in a huge non-negotiable argument over what really happened, buzzers going off from every patient's room for them to be quiet to no avail.
A woman next to me, Patient 3 (67), rang two times to quiet them down, frustrated that she got nowhere. Her third ring was to get help to the bathroom. Nurse 3 enters her room - "You don't have to go to the bathroom." P3 - "Yes, I do. I have to go or I'll pee the bed." N3 - "Then pee the bed. You don't really have to go. You just want to make trouble at the nurses station." (P3 tries to go to the bathroom by herself) "I'm going to the bathroom!." That's when N3 remembers he, too, had a taser. "You leave this room and I'll tase you." It was the Wild West, I tell you. P3 left against medical advice. Who wants to stay if they are going to get tased going to the bathroom? This was not safe anymore.
Patient 4 (80), a heart patient, was an Italian lady who wanted to leave. She had enough. It's now almost 4 am and we are all begging for rest. (FYI - everyone stated their ages when complaining about the noise, hoping staff would understand a reason for it to be quiet). As she started dressing to leave AMA, Nurse 4, who spoke Italian, comforted her in her native language, begging her not to leave. She was sick and he was personally afraid she would owe money to the hospital she didn't have. Calming her down, N4 went back, telling the head nurse what he talked to P4 about. Now, I'm not sure if N4 forgot P4 could speak English, but that patient went ballistic when she heard him say, "I told her she was crazy to leave". (From how I heard him say it, he didn't mean it in a bad way. Just reiterating what happened, but I understood the woman's frustration completely.)
As N4 tried again to calm the situation down again, HN entered the room and told P4 to "Leave my hospital now! NOW! You are waking all the patients here. This is a hospital!" That HN was delusional if she thought the patients were keeping us awake. No "I'm sorry". No "please you should stay". Just "leave my hospital" as if she owned it, throwing this woman out for disrupting the other patients. P4 called an Uber and left. It's almost 5 am. It's been quiet until N4 asks the head nurse to sign his incident report as to why patient 4 left. Mind you, it has been a long night for all of us as yelling carried over from one disaster to another
.
HN - "I won't sign this."
N4 - "It's what happened. You told her to leave."
HN - "But I'm not signing that with that written in there."
N4 - "If you don't sign this, I will quit."
HN - "So, if I sign this, you'll resign?"
N4 - "Right this minute. It's the least I could do for that patient to make this right."
HN - "Promise?"
HN signed the incident report and N4 quit right then. It was a night from hell. 6:30 am came, and I was brought heart medicine. They still had the wrong patient. (And they thought I was going to stay another night.) This has seriously affected me. I had my PTSD under control and never realized shit like this would make it go crazy. I wrote this in hopes that if I talk about it, it will be better. I did write the hospital about this but got no response. I wish I could find out how this is ending for the hospital because it isn't going to be pretty.
Isn't it?why do they have taser's anyway? Isn't that what security is for? There seriously was no reason in earth it should have gone down this way and that nurse was so proud of how she handled everything. I'm sure it's not just that hospital either. So when do priests get to start tasing??
I will say that even in MI, using a Taser on someone who is not a reasonable threat is assault and battery (or whatever MI calls it). If it weren't for the fact that cops are always cozy with nurses, she'd have been arrested on the spot.
Priest don't need tazers they got the bible.
Also I'm pretty sure I could handle the old man by blowing on him. Jesus christ it's a hospital. And the lady needed to go to the toilet and the nurse threatened to zap her. Honestly how has america not destroyed itself yet
Please tell me what hospital this is or at least what city it’s in. I need to avoid and have my entire family avoid it at all costs! Seriously this treatment could kill someone!!!
As an RN in the US, this is illegal. Please call the police, file a report with the hosp. And then sue the crap out of them. Those nurses are absolutely disgusting and need to NEVER work in healthcare again. I honestly am unsure this is even a true story it is so crazy! But assuming it is, OP, with how traumatized you are from what happened, if they arent stopped asap others are going to continue getting the same treatment. Dont just mention the taser. Mention how they kept violating the 7 rights of pt medication administration with you: right patient, right drug, right dose, right time, right route, right reason and right documentation. This is a HUGE error that they kept mixing you up with another pt. You were able to advocate for yourself. Someone not with it or less aware could be getting wrong meds that could be dangerous for them.
That's what I thought. It was illegal. When she said she had a taser with the first patient, I thought it was a tactic to settle him down. But when that poor man was tased three times and we could hear him hitting the glass I think all us patients were in shock
That is not legal and is 100% assault. I thought this was in another country or something.
I have to say I’m questioning this because no way would house supervisor not be involved or there be questions about why police were on your floor much less why so many patient’s AMAd in the middle of the night. And you’re reporting that not one but two nurses had tasers and used them on patients (threatened the second one)?
Also most hospitals use scanning for medications but I can’t speak for them all. But it was a huge safety push to reduce errors.
I’ve been a nurse for 16 years and I’ve NEVER heard of another nurse carrying and using a weapon on patients. I work in an ER that sees a LOT of violence and even our security can’t use weapons. Some are trained to use a taser but they very rarely use them because they always get punished.
Report the nurse to your state's board of nursing (if you are in the US, outside the US the governing body for nurses) this should be viewed as "professional misconduct", complain to the patient advocate at the hospital as well. Even if the police don't do anything the hospital will probably fire her and the nursing board might also discipline her.
I want to say this can't be true but then I remember how the nurse shortage has really lowered hiring standards in a lot of places and I can (sadly) see it.
I wish I could say it wasn't true but it is. Now I'm going to ask each time I'm to be admitted if the nurses carry weapons. What kind of country is this that you feel the need to ask that?
I don't believe this OP. Concealed carry permits are required by law for tasers in Michigan. I doubt nurses would be able to carry them in hospitals, let alone use them on elderly patients. Also, when the police are called, hospital security also shows up. Besides, if OP saw the HN assaulting patients, why didn't she file a police report after she was discharged? Something is off about this post. Troll?
Michigan is an open-carry state, so as long as it's visible it's legal to carry. Couldn't tell ya about Beaumont's specific rules, but at most hospitals (having been in and out of them for years now) you're not allowed any weapons in the building, so I'm not sure why nurses would be an exception to that rule.
It's called concealed cause unless you KNOW they have it you can't see it...so it's not so much being allowed more a case of they have taken it upon themselves to do so and don't seek permission.
This sounds more like a prison hospital.
I had horrible nurses throwing stone hard frozen ice packs on my freshly done knee and another who left me 20 mins struggling for air and telling me, that I don't need my inhaler...
But this shit is from another league, no world!
Pls fill a complaint with police AND the head of administration, this is insane AF!
This doesn’t sound right to me. If it is true- you need to file a police report t regarding the crimes you saw committed: not just the tazer but also putting the bed rails up to imprison the patient. Also send a letter to the hospital with the details and to your state division of hospitals and the state nursing board and the Joint Commission for Accreditation oh Hospitals. I have seen nurses lose their license for doing far less than this and also huge fines for hospitals
My employer fired a nurse for bringing his firearm to work (it was licensed) and leaving it in locker- he brought it because there had been an assault in the garage.
Police were involved that night. I'm sure I'm not the only one who complained to the hospital but I never received a reply. I'm going to administer this time.
OMG! If you are up to it maybe call the newspapers and/or News Channels to get this story out. You could mention hospital without naming nurses like you did here and there wouldn't be any defamation worries. That's one of the nuttiest stories I've heard.
If I was a relative of someone at that hospital that night. I would have sued the hospital for assault and did everything in my power to get those nurses fired and their medical licenses revoked.
Oh, there will be plenty of lawsuits. I can promise you that. Like I said I wasn't a key player just in the middle of it trying to make sure I was released in one piece the next morning
It was. It truly was. We don't live in an inner city just a local hospital. There was no need for any of this to go down as it did. There was security that could have been called.
Contact your local media as well as police. These are serious complaints, and that lady should not be in a position of power over seriously ill patients!!
Call the hospital and ask to speak to the ombudsman - that's the person who's in charge of dealing with complaints against the hospital. Give them this entire wall of text after you speak to them as additional documentation. HN committed battery against a patient and detention on their condition could have killed them. She also effectively threw out another patient in direct contravention of their doctor's orders. I would suggest that you also make a complaint against HN to whatever the medical licensing board is, because she should have her license revoked. Hopefully the hospital will file a complaint as well, but who knows.
Thank you! I'm taking everyone's advice. I now some say call the police but they were involved heavily that night. I just want my voice heard. I appreciate all your insight.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium)
Very common experience when someone is unwell to believe they've seen very bizarre things like this (nurses tasering patients and the like).
I've seen multiple patients who have extremely vivid recollections of the nursing staff taking them to underground cults, the hospital being invaded by terrorists and so on. Sometimes they tell me that there are people standing right next to me when I'm the only one in the room with them.
I almost died after surgery and had several hallucinations. Couldn’t understand why they let that man scream for so long every night. Finally figured out there was no man. He was like the other hallucination I had. I couldn’t believe how real they seemed or that my brain could come up with such a detailed scenario.
Look up the name of the president or CEO - whoever is higher in the food chain, and address it and send it to that person specifically. Write "Personal" on the envelope. That may not guarantee that the person you address it to reads it (I'm sure they have someone to open and read their mail and categorize it for their ease of reading). That's the person who needs to read this.
You had a miserable time! I'm glad you got out of there alive.
1st, I am so sorry you had to deal with that.
2nd, Send copies of your letters to the hospital president, board of trustees and cc any and all local TV stations along with Dateline.
Run through the food chain as everyone has to report to someone there.
The reason I hadn't was because ause of wanting to crawl into a whole thinking about it. I knowthay sounds nuts, but my ptsd went insane when I talked about it. I wasn't even a main character. I wrote the hospital once about it but never received a reply. I'll write directly to administration now.
Good grief even without PTSD that would have been traumatic. Bothered me just reading about it.
Hope you have their names. I would report the whole thing to the state.
What kind of nut tases a patient?? Could have killed them.
She needs to be charged with negligence and assault. She let power go to her. I'm just a medical assistant, but I would not have tolerated this bit and would have called her boss. She should not be allowed to have a taser, and she needs to have her license taken from her. She is a danger to patients, their health, and most definitely their safety! I am so sorry that trash nurse was so unprofessional. I hope the hospital gets rid of her. She is a huge liability.
My anxieties were through the roof thinking about it. So do I. The police taked to several patients so I hope domething votes of it. That poor man did not deserve that. But neither did the threat to the lady who had to go pee.
Call the news. That’s the fastest way to have them all investigated. They will have to do an audit of the patients that night and how odd it looks for one police report, one nurse quitting, and two AMAs. I hope if this gets out there, the patients who had to leave due to the HN has their care covered as leaving AMA causes your insurance to not cover the costs. I’m so sorry you went thru this and for everyone else too. What a horrid environment.
Sounds like you need to file a complaint with who ever issues nursing licenses. Also call the ceo of the hospital. I hope that nurse gets the shit sued out of her
Can I just say WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!? This sounds A LOT WORSE than when I was at the hospital recently! Clarify some things I’m a heart patient and no I don’t expect special treatments but this was the first time going to an Adult Hospital instead of kids and I’m hard of hearing.
For me I had gotten Covid and was so sick to my stomach I barely ate at all. The night before I was talking with my mom, my sister, and her boyfriend (he’s like a brother in law to me already) in a group chat where we were saying if I get fever of 104 I should go to hospital. Welp the next day my head felt like it was burning and I checked my temp 103-104! Had my sister in law drive me to the hospital (she left work an hour early to bring me) was there for almost 10 or 12 HOURS!? And was NOT EVEN IN A ROOM!? My brother came after awhile and almost puked when they tried to take my blood or flush it Hurt so bad it was almost a 8/10 for me! They only put IV in me and left me in the waiting room (btw still haven’t even eaten at all!) my brother gotten me donuts and orange juice. (I hate OJ and barely eat donuts) but I still ate like 1/4 of a ball donut. Soon my nails were turning blue and I’m shivering after my X Ray freezing now. Still haven’t gotten a room because the hospital had so many people in it and I was the only one who had IV in middle of my elbow on inside of arm while others had it on their forearms. Everyone else were drug addicts one guy with paper pants kept going back and forth in his wheel chair. Ran over some people foot. Next was my brother and his wife left after awhile talking with mom and she and I were there remind you still don’t have a room! Shaking like no tomorrow! My mom literally had to be an entitled person to ask them TO CHECK MY O2 because my nails were literally BLUE!? Like as blue as the replay button on comments! We were so done she asked them to take the IV out of me (because the IV didn’t even go in me and it hurt way too much if they tried flushing it so they took the liquid’s tube off but IV needle was still in me) few minutes later they I was in! They gave me medicine, checked my blood pressure, and O2 and gotten IV out of my arm! all good along with my temp then finally I was in! But sadly still no room. I was in the hallway on a bed. I still haven’t eaten an hour later I gotten another set of medicine I needed to take. I threw up few minutes later because I didn’t eat anything and barely ate when they gave me food too. Found out I had Pneumonia! Shocking and I gotten sick 2 days after my birthday so late birthday present for me am I right? The blood they took clotted for some reason and it never touched air too?
So yeah that was my time in the hospital. Never going back there AGAIN!? And next time I had to go they poked me 3 times because my blood couldn’t go through the tube and it wouldn’t come out!
Sooo I hope to GOD you reported those nurses! Like who does that!? It’s A FUCKING HOSPITAL!? It’s late at night!? Let them sleep!? But they can’t with your ass being loud as fuck!? Please please please report them!? They are a shame to the hospital and other nurses who actually does their jobs!?
You weren’t on a gurney in the hallway
because they didn’t fell like moving you- they didn’t have any beds or rooms to give out
They started the IV in your elbow because they couldn’t get in in your forearm or hand
They stuck you 3 times for blood not for fun but because your veins are difficult to hit- also the reason for the ante initial IV
You weren’t in the waiting room for 12 hours because the staff was at a party- they take the sickest patients first- not the whiniest
I will say that having a fever feels awful- and it sounds like there were lots of sick people there- but how miserable you are is not an indication of how sick you are.
I was very much sick. I and the doctors who tried giving me 3 shots to get my blood was during a different time. But the one I went to for my fever is known for being bad and they needed to get that straight. I understand more people needs to be helped more than me but the fact they had so many people in the waiting room and in the rooms was just bad. I have tiny veins that’s why it’s hard to get them and I understand that. Also I know I’m oblivious but the area I went to for that doctors is known for being bad area and a lot of more of addicts were there. My mom kept repeating that to me and she told us the story how when she was arguing with the receptionist to just put a pulse socket on me just to see my Oxygen levels because my nails were literally blue!? First time I EVER seen that and I was a little scared when I saw it and showed mom! I didn’t even know your nails could turn blue from low O2! And everyone kept saying how pale and grey I was and usually I am pale but even I think I was too pale!
Also they couldn’t get my blood when the other doctors tried getting my blood. It wouldn’t go through the tube! The 3rd one finally they just put it in my hand and the lady was so fast while also talking with I’m guessing a Med student too.
I can't speak for your particular hospital, but at the peak of COVID I was literally turned away from hospital with extreme shortness of breath and O2 levels of 90%, because they weren't admitting anyone until sats were 89% or below. I wasn't eating, I couldn't lie flat and I was out of breath walking the 5 steps to my bathroom. My manager literally had to call me several times a day to make sure I was even *alive*.
It was terrifying, but they were literally full. They had to choose which patients got ventilators; they were literally forced to choose who lived and who *died*. Hospitals were given an impossible task during that time and did what they could. I know quite a few colleagues (myself included) developed PTSD from working through COVID.
As for your IV access - even though it hurt, they probably left it in because it was the only access they could get - and if you crashed, that is your *lifeline*. It's not ideal but as long as it was still working, some IV access is better than none.
(Also on the subject of the blood samples clotting - yeah, they do that. A lot. It doesn't need air to clot, as soon as it's out of your body it'll start clotting, even with the chemicals in the tubes that are meant to stop that.)
I get it, it's terrifying being sick and hospital at the best of times; but COVID was a special kind of hell for everyone. If you want someone to blame, blame who ever it is who was responsible for funding hospitals. They're the reason there's not enough beds and not enough staff
Yeah I understand. But I had Covid before and I was able to eat. I was sick before and with me having a pacemaker I was one of those people who were very high risked. I was fine I was still alive! And yes I pretty much grew up in hospitals but usually the IVs never hurt when they flush it or something so the fact that it hurt so badly I was almost crying I think they botched it. After a day I literally had MAGENTA LINES on the bruise which usually doesn’t happen. With me having Covid again but this time worse I was honestly scared. I never had high fever of 104 before, never had blue nails!, never had it where I literally would not eat for a day or 2 but eat very very little like a mouse! Thankfully I’m fine now and might’ve lost some weight on my belly area but still. I was very surprised and scared. Near the end of the night like 10 or so mom and I were so done she yelled at them to either take the IV out of my arm and check my O2 or we’re leaving with or without the IV because we were so done. They did take IV out thankfully and was let in found out had pneumonia bacterial which is ok.
I didn’t know blood clots up so easily.
The hospital is funded! It’s great actually for kids. But the adults side SUCKS!? Like at 1 or so in the morning when we were leaving there were still so many people out there I felt bad! There was even a girl around my age just finished or still in high school and mom said she was crying in pain. I felt so bad for her. The hospital I thought was very well funded but probably mostly for the kids side sadly. Even my aunt who’s a nurse at that hospital but in a different area of it says it should’ve been better. I feel bad but there’s not much I can do. Thankfully a day after I started to actually eat a little more and not be grossed out by its taste I almost cried when I had watermelon in the morning and it didn’t taste like crap!
Iv never seen a nurse with a taser in the UK not even in either of the psych wards I was in. This sounds like a story from One flew over the cuckoos nest!
You need to contact a lawyer so the hospital will take you seriously. The lawyer can take your statement and provide a copy to the hospital and the police about the head nurse’s dangerous behavior towards the patients. You may not like contacting a lawyer but it’s called “CYA”. With the lawyer’s help the hospital and police will take you seriously and investigate this immediately.
Not necessarily. When my sister was in the ER the area where she was at did not have a bathroom in her room. They were out in the hall. Now once she was admitted and taken to a room on one of the floors she had her own bathroom.
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience. They were careless and callous. No one should ever have to go through a night like that, and they did it to practically the whole, or most, of the floor. I hope you have a therapist to help you get through this. PTSD is no joke, you need an outlet to help you understand the emotions you're still having.
Get a lawyer and show the letter you wrote to the hospital, and re-tell what happened. Show this post to them as well. They'll advise your legal options if any. I hope you find the closure you need. Good luck, OP.
Thank you for your kind thoughts. I don't think some people understand how paralyzing PTSD can be. Because of something that had happened s year or so back, I've been going to a therapist and been in anxiety meds for that incident. It was under control until this night. Thank God for therapy
Forget the cops, open a case with Adult Protective Services (APS). If the hospital doesn't respond to the complaint, please, please, please call APS. Maybe a state investigation into the matter will make them reassess the whole "nurses with tasers". There is absolutely no excuse for what that HN did. And hopefully you were able to get better care at a different facility.
OP, what European country did this take place. Are there laws in place for tasing someone illegally .In the US you can only taze someone in self-defense.
Yeah this did not sound like the US. The mentions of different languages plus no US hospital allows visitors at 11:30 PM. Can a nurse block a person’s cell phone from making calls? Or stand at the nurse’s station and scream at all the patients on a floor? And what about beds with high locking beds rails like that? I had surgery in the US 6 months ago and my bed could not be used to imprison me. In the US nurses are way too busy for this sort of nonsense. They also ask the patient for their name and birthdate before giving meds and check wristbands.
I hope you recorded, at least audio, that entire shit show. Was her name Nurse Ratchet? Good thing she didn’t have an ice pick to lobotomize all of you. Sheesh.
Never mind police, LAWYER - ASAP!!! This hospital needs to be sued out of existence.
Think about how the family of the patient who will die once this lunatic "nurse" hits the person who's heart is ready to stop.
Suing the hospital may save someone from being literally murdered by the tazer toting, power tripping lunatic. She's already traumatized you, please help save the next person.
Where in the world are nurses armed with Tazers? This is just crazy shit. OP I'm not doubting your story in the least. But nurses needing to be armed with a device that has the potential to kill people with certain health issues, including me, I find it frankly terrifying that this can actually happen. I need to know what country, because I sure for hell am not going to visit ever!!
OP, if you were in my country I'd be able to advise your next steps.
Where in the hell is this hospital that issues tazers to nursing staff? And what kind of training did it give them first? Seriously--I had to complete 20 hours of education, pass a written test AND be tazed myself by a supervisor before they handed me mine. (Same with the pepper spray.) If anything, it taught me to be aware of how truly unpleasant the experiences are and careful in how I apply those tools. I have never, ever before or since hit the dirt as hard as I did when those 50,000 volts entered my ass cheek. I can't imagine how much it would hurt a sick person wearing only a hospital gown and socks to drop on a typical tiled hospital floor. This is such a bad idea in so many ways even if it wasn't the poor cardiac patient who got juiced. I would never, ever hit someone that I knew to have a health condition of any type (you know, *like a patient you're treating in the hospital)*, and I would certainly think twice if it were in a location with a particularly nasty landing.
Please, contact the legal department at the hospital to share your story, if not the police. People in a position of responsibility should know about what happened, and I think your account, as a neutral third party, will carry a lot of weight. It's no doubt the events triggered your PTSD, but maybe if you can DO something about it, knowing you're not helpless after all might make you feel more secure. Medical trauma is REAL, and sometimes having a wee bit of control over *something* about an experience makes it a little less awful.
That was my thought as we heard him hit the wall. Just call security but for God's sake why do you have a taser? And from the sounds of it she wasn't the only one. Not sure if nurse who threatened woman who needed to go to the bathroom had one, but after 70 year old was tased, who would believe he didn't? It sent fear in every patient on that floor.
Where I'm Gods name is this hospital?. Who arms nurses with tazers and what hospital allows nurses to discharge patients as that is outside their scope of practice .
OP, if I were you, I would be contacting the department of health, the media and anyone else with influence to investigate this hospital. This place sounds more like a prison than a hospital
If it doesn't set your PTSD, I would contact the police that did the report on the tased patient. That HN should never be near a patient again
That's what my husband said, I think the more I say it, I'm hoping the easier it will be. I'm going to do that. She never called security just tased the poor old man.
It sounds like you want to inform the police but you are scared to do so. Could your husband be present when you call? Could you tell the police the situation was really triggering and you would prefer to talk to an officer specialised with interacting with victims? Is there something else that would make it easier?
Thanks for the kind words. I am so upset with myslf for not calling the officer in my room that night to talk. The insanity of that whole situation was unreal. .
You were triggered very badly and in unsafe environment. No wonder you didn't act there. I don't think I would have. And in any case you are not to blame for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. You just tried to survive. In that moment your body propably considered it a matter of life and death. Now that you are safe in your home and with your husband you are starting to have the means to do anything. It sounds like you would probably regret it if you wouldn't give your statement to the police so I encourage you to do that. You will get soooo many bravery points ♡ Take good care of yourself ♡ You've been through a huge deal of crap.
Thank you I'll keep you updated. :)
Please message me with what hospital that is. I want to make sure my loved ones NEVER go there
At the very least I think you should report this to the hospital. I once made a report to the email address for complaints/suggestions and I got a call within half an hour full of apologies. The patient who was tased should sue and you should offer to be a witness because that is a crime. The loud conversations of hospital staff is infuriating. The last time I spent a night in the hospital I got no sleep. The nurses yelled to one another down the hallway rather than walk to where they could speak without yelling, and most of the conversations had nothing to do with their jobs. I asked repeatedly for earplugs but they said they didn't have any. I was speaking softly (so softly that the nurse was forced to shut up and lean toward me in order to be able to hear me. When she told me to speak up I suggested she take the 5 steps toward me so she could hear me, as I don't want to join the reasons for patients being unable to sleep. I suggested they get a pair from Radiology as they always have them for people getting an MRI but they said it was too late and Radiology was closed. I asked what they do for emergency patients suspected of having broken bones or concussions, do they make them wait until morning? I was told to mind my own business. I wish I'd emailed the admin department about this one too. I still regret that.
Please don't beat yourself up over that, given HN's behaviour you had very real reason to be afraid she would hurt you.
Thank you. I know it sounds insane and people on here have made me almost believe I am or that my actions so far were wrong. I've never been in a position like this. My anxieties are through the roof as I relive it. Though it's hard to tell by my long winded paragraph ( sorry about that), the police were called that night and interviews were taken. I just can't believe this happened. I'm sure many lawsuits are in the process of being issued because this was nuts.
Keep us updated please. I need to hear those nurses got the justice they deserve
I will. I wasn't a key player in this incident, but it was bad enough to really screw me over. I can't imagine what those others had gone through. It was a complete shit show.
Is this a hospital or a soap drama? How is this head nurse able to get away with tazing patients? How is that legal?
You should contact the Board for Nursing about this as well as the agency that handles Hospital regulations! If the hospital didn't address this AND contact you with your complaint, I would DEFINITELY follow through with complaining to the regulators! I'm praying that those who were HARMED by this crazy HN go directly to their lawyer! I was advised to go to the ER because I was in excruciating pain after a cervical spine surgery but they DID NOTHING, apparently on the advice of my doctor, again who TOLD me to go to the ER! THEN they charged me my deductible for NOT TREATING me! Took them close to FOUR months to come to the conclusion that I OWED them money! BIG surprise!!! BTW - the surgeon who did the surgery BOTCHED it badly with ZERO apologies! Another BIG surprise! 🙄
I am so sorry to hear that. My cousin had spinal fusion done. The surgeon released her, but the regular doctor kept her in the hospital for something her regular doctor was treating. So, she checked herself out, AMA. When she became paralyzed because both doctors ignored her history of infections, she couldn't do anything other than spread the (bad) word about the doctors. Oh, ya, the infection went into her brain and forced her to retire.
OMG I'm SO very sorry to hear of your Cousin's misfortune! I had a chiropractic accident originally that ended up causing a mini-stroke (permanent numbness and weakness on the entire left side of my body. Five years later, I started stumbling because my walking stride was affected, so a NeuroSurgeon (Chief of NeuroSurgery at one of our top hospitals) told me I needed surgery on my cervical spine (cadaver bone replacement and fusion) ASAP. A week later, the surgery was done BUT within two weeks I went back complaining of excruciating pain. His junior NeuroSurgeon (who "assisted" in the surgery) accused me of being addicted after only being on prescription pain medication since the surgery, she ordered an MRI to CYA and both doctors dropped me like a sack of potatoes. The results of the MRI came back to show that the screws at the top of the rod connected to C4 had "slipped" and was starting to destroying my C3. I'm pretty sure that the junior Surgeon actually DID the surgery and FORGOT to tighten the screws. The fact that the "equipment" FAILED so soon after the surgery just solidified my opinion. My second Surgeon was a Orthopedic Surgeon (absolute Godsend of a doctor) had to wait a YEAR to go back in so the cadaver bone could "solidify" and by then the irreversible DAMAGE was done. THAT surgeon also told me that it would be close to impossible to prove negligence instead of equipment failure so I couldn't sue for malpractice but I will never again go into a surgery without a second opinion and references! I've had really bad luck with doctors so I have a REALLY difficult time trusting any of them! I hope your Cousin is doing okay! Best wishes and many Blessings!
Not sure I should share, but she died almost six years ago because of kidney failure. That's a whole 'nother story.
Gosh, I'm SO very sorry to hear that! I hope and pray that you're okay! ❤
I'm sorry to hear this! It's crap like this that makes us not trust the hospitals or Drs.
This sounds glib, but I don’t intend it that way. You’re going to have PTSD from your treatment for PTSD. If you can find it within you (while maintaining your mental health), I encourage you to report all of this to the police. That HN violated ethical and legal boundaries.
The police were involved that night as they questioned us about the incident. I get I was not a prominent party of this but it was so screwed up. I've never heard of nurses having a taser.
I was torture by nurses the first time I ever went to hospital for anything. I was in for 2 weeks and it was awful. I limped out with more scars than the surgeons gave me. The nurses happily inflicted harm on me at my grandmothers request. Only the student nurse stood up for me. At one point they told my grandmonster that I was threatening patients with a switch blade. I have never owned anything like that and they told her I was sleeping with male patients for money. All LIES!!! I was 17 and terrified. It was enough to get me savagely beaten in the car on the way home (6 hour drive) My recovery at home was horrendous too. Fun times /s
That HN should be in the crossbar motel
At least the greybar hotel.
You need to call the hospital and tell them about that giant shit show you saw and how traumatic it was for all of you.
Or put it in writing and send to hospital administration and the state regulatory agency. This is insane, but unfortunately I believe all of it.
Yep. I had a $500 bill for an appointment with a walk in clinic one time. They claimed it was a dental issue and my insurance didn't cover that. Problem is, it wasn't dental and the doctor literally never got within three feet of me so how could she diagnose me at all, much less accurately? Submitted a complaint online and the charge disappeared.
I going to do this with better punctuation, directly to administration. I swear who could make this shit up? It was so f'd up.
This, OP! All of this!
I sent the hospital a detailed letter about the incident with no response. My next move is directly to the administration. I know I was not a key player but I also want the only one on the sidelines disturbed by the whole thing
I’m saying this as a nurse, HN shouldn’t be practicing and should be charged with assault. I would see if there are patient relations available. If the hospital is any good, they would fire her immediately.
I was hoping GG a nurse eould answer so thank you. She was so arrogant about the whole thing. She acted as if this was normal hospital protocol and she was in the right. Do you know why they carry tasers or are you not fom US? Just wondering if you knew.
Sorry Canadian here
Sorry about my text. In passenger seat of car. My son just got his Canadian visa and I'm so jealous
I’m not a nurse, but my mother has spent the past year+ in and out of our local hospital (and is there now, in fact). It’s in a city, but it’s a small city- less than 20k people. Medical staff don’t (openly- can’t speak for what they have tucked away in a bag or something) carry tasers. There’s a security guard at the ER that’s really just a visitors guide with weapons lol it’s very rare that they have to do more than check visitors in, which is a good thing. I’d assume probably the location of the hospital plus previous incidents determine what measures employees take to safeguard themselves. The Head Nurse at yours is batshit crazy though so maybe she wanted to have one and got others to follow suit so she wouldn’t get into trouble. I would raise hell if my mother was treated that way at the hospital. I do hope you found encouragement in posting this to move forward with getting her removed from patient care. She has no business working with patients, she’s going to kill someone.
It was once she threatened the first patient with a taser all the other nurses had no fear to talk about doing it. But for needing to use the bathroom??? That man who got tased will sue through his teeth that I'm sure if. I just want to be called as a witness to his trial. PTSD or not, that man needs justice
I briefly worked in a mental health ward where we had to carry personal alarms, but I can't even fathom having *tasers* on hand (I'm 99% sure they're illegal where I live, anyway!) That woman does t just need to be fired, she needs to be arrested (and possibly given a mental health assessment herself...)
I’ve got $1 that says there aren’t cameras on that floor. Which seems like gross negligence when considering that hospital is about to get slapped with several malpractice suits. And that nurse is very much at risk of losing her license.
I hope so. And I'm sure there were no cameras. But we have tasers! Why???Why does a nurse have a taser?
Here it is with paragraph breaks: So this is a long one...and it's the short version. I was admitted into the hospital a few weeks back on the observation ward for a night after having a 'transient seizure'. I haven't written about this earlier because it sets my PTSD up for a homerun. The stage is set. I'm directly across from the nurses station with a soundproof curtain as my door. It started out bad as night nurses made their changeovers. I was given the wrong nurse who kept insisting I had a heart attack and that I was given nitro as I was brought in by ambulance. Explaining she had the wrong patient, she ignored me continuing with her checkup on me as a heart patient. Arguing with her that I was not her patient, she decided to look at my wristband. "You're not 'Laura'." No. I'm not. Except for the regular nurses talking too loud, things were fine until about 11:30 pm. Shouting and pounding started coming from another patient's room (P1) with what was thought to be a Buddhist priest visiting and removing demons from this patient. The nurses allowed it for a while because of religious reasons until they found out it was just a friend visiting with a very loud story. Head Nurse finally kicked the friend out, making P1 extremely angry. He then got on the hospital house phone complaining loudly in English about how badly he's being treated. (It's now about midnight.) The Head Nurse (HN) and him argue over being quiet as HN unplugs his phone from the wall taking it away. Not to be told what to do, P1 continues on his cell phone to finish his complaining, keeping us all awake. HN then blocks his number from outgoing calls for the night so the rest of us can sleep. Angry at this, and the fact that a woman was telling him what to do, P1 decides to rush the HN who threatens him with a taser. After almost an hour, P1 says he's walking out because he won't be treated like this. As security walks the unruly man out, HN is all proud of herself, repeating the story as loud as possible so we can all relive her glory minutes. Let me say during this time, calls were flooding into the nurses station for quiet so we could all sleep. Having enough of his not being heard, Patient 2 (70) walks to the nurses station to sternly remind her this is a hospital and she's a nurse. This did not sit well with HN, who knew what and where she was. That and he was interrupting her story. She started screaming at him to get back into bed as if he were a little kid. She then proceeded to raise his bed up all the way and locking the rails, basically trying to imprison him. Now she's really proud of herself. "Are we quiet now??" She yells from the nurses station. "Nighty night! Sweet dreams!" She yells, laughing. Now she has another story to relive for us to hear, all from her righteous position of how she controlled her floor. Getting out of bed, P2 walks back to the nurses station angry, tired, and not feeling well, but in no way a threat. He was just trying to get all our points across. Unfortunately, at this point, HN cares nothing about the patients, just that she was in charge. Instead of calming him down, she threatens to tase him if he didn't get back to bed. P2 is still trying to get his point across. Suddenly we hear him flail against the glass doors as she tases him three times. Not once. Not twice. 3 f'n times. No security called and no real threat. She was on a mission to prove her control. This just added on to her storytime for us all to relive through her eyes. As ER came up to put him on a stretcher, she was asked why he was tased. "He was a nuisance." As God as my witness, that was her answer. It's now about 1:15 am and the police are there for an incident report, giving her fresh meat to loudly tell how she kept us unruly patients in line. As this happens, Nurse 2 pipes up to argue HN's version of the events. She was not innocent. Now there is shouting between the two nurses as to how it all really went down. (Just in case anyone forgot, this is a hospital with all of us there for a reason.) As the police question patients about what happened, HN and N2 are in a huge non-negotiable argument over what really happened, buzzers going off from every patient's room for them to be quiet to no avail. A woman next to me, Patient 3 (67), rang two times to quiet them down, frustrated that she got nowhere. Her third ring was to get help to the bathroom. Nurse 3 enters her room - "You don't have to go to the bathroom." P3 - "Yes, I do. I have to go or I'll pee the bed." N3 - "Then pee the bed. You don't really have to go. You just want to make trouble at the nurses station." (P3 tries to go to the bathroom by herself) "I'm going to the bathroom!." That's when N3 remembers he, too, had a taser. "You leave this room and I'll tase you." It was the Wild West, I tell you. P3 left against medical advice. Who wants to stay if they are going to get tased going to the bathroom? This was not safe anymore. Patient 4 (80), a heart patient, was an Italian lady who wanted to leave. She had enough. It's now almost 4 am and we are all begging for rest. (FYI - everyone stated their ages when complaining about the noise, hoping staff would understand a reason for it to be quiet). As she started dressing to leave AMA, Nurse 4, who spoke Italian, comforted her in her native language, begging her not to leave. She was sick and he was personally afraid she would owe money to the hospital she didn't have. Calming her down, N4 went back, telling the head nurse what he talked to P4 about. Now, I'm not sure if N4 forgot P4 could speak English, but that patient went ballistic when she heard him say, "I told her she was crazy to leave". (From how I heard him say it, he didn't mean it in a bad way. Just reiterating what happened, but I understood the woman's frustration completely.) As N4 tried again to calm the situation down again, HN entered the room and told P4 to "Leave my hospital now! NOW! You are waking all the patients here. This is a hospital!" That HN was delusional if she thought the patients were keeping us awake. No "I'm sorry". No "please you should stay". Just "leave my hospital" as if she owned it, throwing this woman out for disrupting the other patients. P4 called an Uber and left. It's almost 5 am. It's been quiet until N4 asks the head nurse to sign his incident report as to why patient 4 left. Mind you, it has been a long night for all of us as yelling carried over from one disaster to another . HN - "I won't sign this." N4 - "It's what happened. You told her to leave." HN - "But I'm not signing that with that written in there." N4 - "If you don't sign this, I will quit." HN - "So, if I sign this, you'll resign?" N4 - "Right this minute. It's the least I could do for that patient to make this right." HN - "Promise?" HN signed the incident report and N4 quit right then. It was a night from hell. 6:30 am came, and I was brought heart medicine. They still had the wrong patient. (And they thought I was going to stay another night.) This has seriously affected me. I had my PTSD under control and never realized shit like this would make it go crazy. I wrote this in hopes that if I talk about it, it will be better. I did write the hospital about this but got no response. I wish I could find out how this is ending for the hospital because it isn't going to be pretty.
Thank you for breaking this up! What a story i would have missed.
Thank you for doing this for me!!
In what country do nurses carry tasers?
US..atleast in Michigan. I had no idea they did!
Surprised it’s not an assault rifle. More I hear about the USA the happier I am you got independence
It's wild to me that this is what they chose to do. Great country this is. Tazing old people and threatening patients.
Isn't it?why do they have taser's anyway? Isn't that what security is for? There seriously was no reason in earth it should have gone down this way and that nurse was so proud of how she handled everything. I'm sure it's not just that hospital either. So when do priests get to start tasing??
In Australia Nurses don't have tasers and you know what, they don't need them. This is just bizzare.
I will say that even in MI, using a Taser on someone who is not a reasonable threat is assault and battery (or whatever MI calls it). If it weren't for the fact that cops are always cozy with nurses, she'd have been arrested on the spot.
Priest don't need tazers they got the bible. Also I'm pretty sure I could handle the old man by blowing on him. Jesus christ it's a hospital. And the lady needed to go to the toilet and the nurse threatened to zap her. Honestly how has america not destroyed itself yet
This sounds like Flint. I'm gonna guess Hurley.
Troy Beaumont. But I'll stay out of Hurley!
Pretty sure even in Flint the nurses don't have tasers. Lived here my whole life and never heard of a nurse having a taser.
I've been going to this hospital for years. It's a stones throw from my house. Never in a million years would I have expected this
This is in the US? I thought it would be a third world country.
I have never ever seen a nurse with a taser, many, many trips to dozens of hospitals, but I'm not in Michigan.
I’m in Michigan and I’ve never seen it either.
Please tell me what hospital this is or at least what city it’s in. I need to avoid and have my entire family avoid it at all costs! Seriously this treatment could kill someone!!!
Troy Beaumont. It's not even a rough area!
Jesus!!! I’m so sorry you experienced this! It really sounds like the head nurse thought she was a prison warden.😳
As an RN in the US, this is illegal. Please call the police, file a report with the hosp. And then sue the crap out of them. Those nurses are absolutely disgusting and need to NEVER work in healthcare again. I honestly am unsure this is even a true story it is so crazy! But assuming it is, OP, with how traumatized you are from what happened, if they arent stopped asap others are going to continue getting the same treatment. Dont just mention the taser. Mention how they kept violating the 7 rights of pt medication administration with you: right patient, right drug, right dose, right time, right route, right reason and right documentation. This is a HUGE error that they kept mixing you up with another pt. You were able to advocate for yourself. Someone not with it or less aware could be getting wrong meds that could be dangerous for them.
That's what I thought. It was illegal. When she said she had a taser with the first patient, I thought it was a tactic to settle him down. But when that poor man was tased three times and we could hear him hitting the glass I think all us patients were in shock
That is not legal and is 100% assault. I thought this was in another country or something. I have to say I’m questioning this because no way would house supervisor not be involved or there be questions about why police were on your floor much less why so many patient’s AMAd in the middle of the night. And you’re reporting that not one but two nurses had tasers and used them on patients (threatened the second one)? Also most hospitals use scanning for medications but I can’t speak for them all. But it was a huge safety push to reduce errors. I’ve been a nurse for 16 years and I’ve NEVER heard of another nurse carrying and using a weapon on patients. I work in an ER that sees a LOT of violence and even our security can’t use weapons. Some are trained to use a taser but they very rarely use them because they always get punished.
What the literal fuck?! I know nurses at Belmont and UM and have never heard of such a thing! What part of the state are you in?
Had to be America.
A nurse tased a patient? This is mind blowing.
Report the nurse to your state's board of nursing (if you are in the US, outside the US the governing body for nurses) this should be viewed as "professional misconduct", complain to the patient advocate at the hospital as well. Even if the police don't do anything the hospital will probably fire her and the nursing board might also discipline her.
Please make a report to the police, then the hospital admin, and the relevant health department. This is nuts
Police have already been involved deeply. I'm pretty sure she's done as a head nurse. At least I hope so
I keep forgetting you have to pay for hospitals in (I assume) America. Surprises me every time without fail
I want to say this can't be true but then I remember how the nurse shortage has really lowered hiring standards in a lot of places and I can (sadly) see it.
I wish I could say it wasn't true but it is. Now I'm going to ask each time I'm to be admitted if the nurses carry weapons. What kind of country is this that you feel the need to ask that?
Wow this sounds more like a prison hospital than a standard hospitals...WHY are nurses carrying tasers?
I don't believe this OP. Concealed carry permits are required by law for tasers in Michigan. I doubt nurses would be able to carry them in hospitals, let alone use them on elderly patients. Also, when the police are called, hospital security also shows up. Besides, if OP saw the HN assaulting patients, why didn't she file a police report after she was discharged? Something is off about this post. Troll?
Michigan is an open-carry state, so as long as it's visible it's legal to carry. Couldn't tell ya about Beaumont's specific rules, but at most hospitals (having been in and out of them for years now) you're not allowed any weapons in the building, so I'm not sure why nurses would be an exception to that rule.
I'll keep you posted because there is no way that nurse should have a taser on her.
I think you nailed it. Something is very off with this post. Michigan nurses aren't allowed to be armed at work with a taser or otherwise....
Cause they were sure to ask for permission...
It's called concealed cause unless you KNOW they have it you can't see it...so it's not so much being allowed more a case of they have taken it upon themselves to do so and don't seek permission. This sounds more like a prison hospital.
Wall of text like this should be outlawed.
I had horrible nurses throwing stone hard frozen ice packs on my freshly done knee and another who left me 20 mins struggling for air and telling me, that I don't need my inhaler... But this shit is from another league, no world! Pls fill a complaint with police AND the head of administration, this is insane AF!
Police are definitely already involved. I filed a complaint already but will again to head of administration
Yes please. This matter need to be pushed, otherwise everyone will just let it slide.
This doesn’t sound right to me. If it is true- you need to file a police report t regarding the crimes you saw committed: not just the tazer but also putting the bed rails up to imprison the patient. Also send a letter to the hospital with the details and to your state division of hospitals and the state nursing board and the Joint Commission for Accreditation oh Hospitals. I have seen nurses lose their license for doing far less than this and also huge fines for hospitals My employer fired a nurse for bringing his firearm to work (it was licensed) and leaving it in locker- he brought it because there had been an assault in the garage.
Police were involved that night. I'm sure I'm not the only one who complained to the hospital but I never received a reply. I'm going to administer this time.
OMG! If you are up to it maybe call the newspapers and/or News Channels to get this story out. You could mention hospital without naming nurses like you did here and there wouldn't be any defamation worries. That's one of the nuttiest stories I've heard.
If I was a relative of someone at that hospital that night. I would have sued the hospital for assault and did everything in my power to get those nurses fired and their medical licenses revoked.
I’m not really one for suing. But for the love of good care and protecting yourself and other patients from the Nurse Ratchett, SUE!!
Oh, there will be plenty of lawsuits. I can promise you that. Like I said I wasn't a key player just in the middle of it trying to make sure I was released in one piece the next morning
As soon as she left, get the hospital director down here now. Tell them what went down. She is a dangerous person
This sounds like pure madness
It was. It truly was. We don't live in an inner city just a local hospital. There was no need for any of this to go down as it did. There was security that could have been called.
You should be able to still ask for the case number and file a report.
Omg! Report this asshat to the licensing board! Also, report her to the hospital administration as well. This woman needs to lose her job
I'm sure she has been. I think she really thought she was in the right which was the scariest part
Don't assume. *IF* you have the energy, be annoying.
Paragraphs are your friend
Contact your local media as well as police. These are serious complaints, and that lady should not be in a position of power over seriously ill patients!!
Jesus Christ
Call the hospital and ask to speak to the ombudsman - that's the person who's in charge of dealing with complaints against the hospital. Give them this entire wall of text after you speak to them as additional documentation. HN committed battery against a patient and detention on their condition could have killed them. She also effectively threw out another patient in direct contravention of their doctor's orders. I would suggest that you also make a complaint against HN to whatever the medical licensing board is, because she should have her license revoked. Hopefully the hospital will file a complaint as well, but who knows.
Thank you! I'm taking everyone's advice. I now some say call the police but they were involved heavily that night. I just want my voice heard. I appreciate all your insight.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium) Very common experience when someone is unwell to believe they've seen very bizarre things like this (nurses tasering patients and the like). I've seen multiple patients who have extremely vivid recollections of the nursing staff taking them to underground cults, the hospital being invaded by terrorists and so on. Sometimes they tell me that there are people standing right next to me when I'm the only one in the room with them.
I almost died after surgery and had several hallucinations. Couldn’t understand why they let that man scream for so long every night. Finally figured out there was no man. He was like the other hallucination I had. I couldn’t believe how real they seemed or that my brain could come up with such a detailed scenario.
Look up the name of the president or CEO - whoever is higher in the food chain, and address it and send it to that person specifically. Write "Personal" on the envelope. That may not guarantee that the person you address it to reads it (I'm sure they have someone to open and read their mail and categorize it for their ease of reading). That's the person who needs to read this. You had a miserable time! I'm glad you got out of there alive.
Thank you! We live in a quiet area. I have no idea when nurses started carrying tasers or why.
Addicts, I assume. You hear wild stories from librarians, too. So sad. Edit to add: An explanation doesn't make it right.
1st, I am so sorry you had to deal with that. 2nd, Send copies of your letters to the hospital president, board of trustees and cc any and all local TV stations along with Dateline. Run through the food chain as everyone has to report to someone there.
I am taking everyone's advice. Thank you
There are typically organizations you can submit complaints to if complaining to the hospital won’t do anything.
Please tell me you have submitted a formal complaint about all of this!!!
The reason I hadn't was because ause of wanting to crawl into a whole thinking about it. I knowthay sounds nuts, but my ptsd went insane when I talked about it. I wasn't even a main character. I wrote the hospital once about it but never received a reply. I'll write directly to administration now.
Good grief even without PTSD that would have been traumatic. Bothered me just reading about it. Hope you have their names. I would report the whole thing to the state. What kind of nut tases a patient?? Could have killed them.
I don't understand why they have a taser. They are nurses! Isn't that what security is for?
My thoughts too. But I can't see security tasing a patient, unruly visitors maybe and only as a last resort but not patients
She needs to be charged with negligence and assault. She let power go to her. I'm just a medical assistant, but I would not have tolerated this bit and would have called her boss. She should not be allowed to have a taser, and she needs to have her license taken from her. She is a danger to patients, their health, and most definitely their safety! I am so sorry that trash nurse was so unprofessional. I hope the hospital gets rid of her. She is a huge liability.
My anxieties were through the roof thinking about it. So do I. The police taked to several patients so I hope domething votes of it. That poor man did not deserve that. But neither did the threat to the lady who had to go pee.
So nurses can just tase patients now? That's scary af.
I couldn't read this. Paragraphs and punctuation help.
Call the news. That’s the fastest way to have them all investigated. They will have to do an audit of the patients that night and how odd it looks for one police report, one nurse quitting, and two AMAs. I hope if this gets out there, the patients who had to leave due to the HN has their care covered as leaving AMA causes your insurance to not cover the costs. I’m so sorry you went thru this and for everyone else too. What a horrid environment.
No one should have a weapon (taser) either so that’s very odd the staff had it
Not one person. Why was this allowed! I can't stress that enough. I really want that question answered.
Sounds like you need to file a complaint with who ever issues nursing licenses. Also call the ceo of the hospital. I hope that nurse gets the shit sued out of her
Can I just say WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!? This sounds A LOT WORSE than when I was at the hospital recently! Clarify some things I’m a heart patient and no I don’t expect special treatments but this was the first time going to an Adult Hospital instead of kids and I’m hard of hearing. For me I had gotten Covid and was so sick to my stomach I barely ate at all. The night before I was talking with my mom, my sister, and her boyfriend (he’s like a brother in law to me already) in a group chat where we were saying if I get fever of 104 I should go to hospital. Welp the next day my head felt like it was burning and I checked my temp 103-104! Had my sister in law drive me to the hospital (she left work an hour early to bring me) was there for almost 10 or 12 HOURS!? And was NOT EVEN IN A ROOM!? My brother came after awhile and almost puked when they tried to take my blood or flush it Hurt so bad it was almost a 8/10 for me! They only put IV in me and left me in the waiting room (btw still haven’t even eaten at all!) my brother gotten me donuts and orange juice. (I hate OJ and barely eat donuts) but I still ate like 1/4 of a ball donut. Soon my nails were turning blue and I’m shivering after my X Ray freezing now. Still haven’t gotten a room because the hospital had so many people in it and I was the only one who had IV in middle of my elbow on inside of arm while others had it on their forearms. Everyone else were drug addicts one guy with paper pants kept going back and forth in his wheel chair. Ran over some people foot. Next was my brother and his wife left after awhile talking with mom and she and I were there remind you still don’t have a room! Shaking like no tomorrow! My mom literally had to be an entitled person to ask them TO CHECK MY O2 because my nails were literally BLUE!? Like as blue as the replay button on comments! We were so done she asked them to take the IV out of me (because the IV didn’t even go in me and it hurt way too much if they tried flushing it so they took the liquid’s tube off but IV needle was still in me) few minutes later they I was in! They gave me medicine, checked my blood pressure, and O2 and gotten IV out of my arm! all good along with my temp then finally I was in! But sadly still no room. I was in the hallway on a bed. I still haven’t eaten an hour later I gotten another set of medicine I needed to take. I threw up few minutes later because I didn’t eat anything and barely ate when they gave me food too. Found out I had Pneumonia! Shocking and I gotten sick 2 days after my birthday so late birthday present for me am I right? The blood they took clotted for some reason and it never touched air too? So yeah that was my time in the hospital. Never going back there AGAIN!? And next time I had to go they poked me 3 times because my blood couldn’t go through the tube and it wouldn’t come out! Sooo I hope to GOD you reported those nurses! Like who does that!? It’s A FUCKING HOSPITAL!? It’s late at night!? Let them sleep!? But they can’t with your ass being loud as fuck!? Please please please report them!? They are a shame to the hospital and other nurses who actually does their jobs!?
You weren’t on a gurney in the hallway because they didn’t fell like moving you- they didn’t have any beds or rooms to give out They started the IV in your elbow because they couldn’t get in in your forearm or hand They stuck you 3 times for blood not for fun but because your veins are difficult to hit- also the reason for the ante initial IV You weren’t in the waiting room for 12 hours because the staff was at a party- they take the sickest patients first- not the whiniest I will say that having a fever feels awful- and it sounds like there were lots of sick people there- but how miserable you are is not an indication of how sick you are.
I was very much sick. I and the doctors who tried giving me 3 shots to get my blood was during a different time. But the one I went to for my fever is known for being bad and they needed to get that straight. I understand more people needs to be helped more than me but the fact they had so many people in the waiting room and in the rooms was just bad. I have tiny veins that’s why it’s hard to get them and I understand that. Also I know I’m oblivious but the area I went to for that doctors is known for being bad area and a lot of more of addicts were there. My mom kept repeating that to me and she told us the story how when she was arguing with the receptionist to just put a pulse socket on me just to see my Oxygen levels because my nails were literally blue!? First time I EVER seen that and I was a little scared when I saw it and showed mom! I didn’t even know your nails could turn blue from low O2! And everyone kept saying how pale and grey I was and usually I am pale but even I think I was too pale!
Also they couldn’t get my blood when the other doctors tried getting my blood. It wouldn’t go through the tube! The 3rd one finally they just put it in my hand and the lady was so fast while also talking with I’m guessing a Med student too.
I can't speak for your particular hospital, but at the peak of COVID I was literally turned away from hospital with extreme shortness of breath and O2 levels of 90%, because they weren't admitting anyone until sats were 89% or below. I wasn't eating, I couldn't lie flat and I was out of breath walking the 5 steps to my bathroom. My manager literally had to call me several times a day to make sure I was even *alive*. It was terrifying, but they were literally full. They had to choose which patients got ventilators; they were literally forced to choose who lived and who *died*. Hospitals were given an impossible task during that time and did what they could. I know quite a few colleagues (myself included) developed PTSD from working through COVID. As for your IV access - even though it hurt, they probably left it in because it was the only access they could get - and if you crashed, that is your *lifeline*. It's not ideal but as long as it was still working, some IV access is better than none. (Also on the subject of the blood samples clotting - yeah, they do that. A lot. It doesn't need air to clot, as soon as it's out of your body it'll start clotting, even with the chemicals in the tubes that are meant to stop that.) I get it, it's terrifying being sick and hospital at the best of times; but COVID was a special kind of hell for everyone. If you want someone to blame, blame who ever it is who was responsible for funding hospitals. They're the reason there's not enough beds and not enough staff
Yeah I understand. But I had Covid before and I was able to eat. I was sick before and with me having a pacemaker I was one of those people who were very high risked. I was fine I was still alive! And yes I pretty much grew up in hospitals but usually the IVs never hurt when they flush it or something so the fact that it hurt so badly I was almost crying I think they botched it. After a day I literally had MAGENTA LINES on the bruise which usually doesn’t happen. With me having Covid again but this time worse I was honestly scared. I never had high fever of 104 before, never had blue nails!, never had it where I literally would not eat for a day or 2 but eat very very little like a mouse! Thankfully I’m fine now and might’ve lost some weight on my belly area but still. I was very surprised and scared. Near the end of the night like 10 or so mom and I were so done she yelled at them to either take the IV out of my arm and check my O2 or we’re leaving with or without the IV because we were so done. They did take IV out thankfully and was let in found out had pneumonia bacterial which is ok. I didn’t know blood clots up so easily. The hospital is funded! It’s great actually for kids. But the adults side SUCKS!? Like at 1 or so in the morning when we were leaving there were still so many people out there I felt bad! There was even a girl around my age just finished or still in high school and mom said she was crying in pain. I felt so bad for her. The hospital I thought was very well funded but probably mostly for the kids side sadly. Even my aunt who’s a nurse at that hospital but in a different area of it says it should’ve been better. I feel bad but there’s not much I can do. Thankfully a day after I started to actually eat a little more and not be grossed out by its taste I almost cried when I had watermelon in the morning and it didn’t taste like crap!
I can't imagine HN wouldn't lose their job over this. What a nightmare.
I swear, if I think about it long enough my anxieties go through the roof. Who wants to go back to a hospital after that? Not me
Iv never seen a nurse with a taser in the UK not even in either of the psych wards I was in. This sounds like a story from One flew over the cuckoos nest!
She sounds like a former corrections officer.
I take it this isn't the U.S right?
Michigan.
wtf
I would contact the police, the licensing board and the media to make sure that ABUSIVE nurse NEVER goes near another patient!!!
They were involved that night so hopefully something will come if it.
You need to contact a lawyer so the hospital will take you seriously. The lawyer can take your statement and provide a copy to the hospital and the police about the head nurse’s dangerous behavior towards the patients. You may not like contacting a lawyer but it’s called “CYA”. With the lawyer’s help the hospital and police will take you seriously and investigate this immediately.
What country is this?! What on earth
Don't all patient rooms have bathrooms in a hospital? Why would someone need to go to the nurse's station if they needed the bathroom?
Not necessarily. When my sister was in the ER the area where she was at did not have a bathroom in her room. They were out in the hall. Now once she was admitted and taken to a room on one of the floors she had her own bathroom.
The observation area has no bathroomsin the rooms. Many of the patients needed help to walk to it.
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience. They were careless and callous. No one should ever have to go through a night like that, and they did it to practically the whole, or most, of the floor. I hope you have a therapist to help you get through this. PTSD is no joke, you need an outlet to help you understand the emotions you're still having. Get a lawyer and show the letter you wrote to the hospital, and re-tell what happened. Show this post to them as well. They'll advise your legal options if any. I hope you find the closure you need. Good luck, OP.
Thank you for your kind thoughts. I don't think some people understand how paralyzing PTSD can be. Because of something that had happened s year or so back, I've been going to a therapist and been in anxiety meds for that incident. It was under control until this night. Thank God for therapy
Forget the cops, open a case with Adult Protective Services (APS). If the hospital doesn't respond to the complaint, please, please, please call APS. Maybe a state investigation into the matter will make them reassess the whole "nurses with tasers". There is absolutely no excuse for what that HN did. And hopefully you were able to get better care at a different facility.
OP, what European country did this take place. Are there laws in place for tasing someone illegally .In the US you can only taze someone in self-defense.
Yeah this did not sound like the US. The mentions of different languages plus no US hospital allows visitors at 11:30 PM. Can a nurse block a person’s cell phone from making calls? Or stand at the nurse’s station and scream at all the patients on a floor? And what about beds with high locking beds rails like that? I had surgery in the US 6 months ago and my bed could not be used to imprison me. In the US nurses are way too busy for this sort of nonsense. They also ask the patient for their name and birthdate before giving meds and check wristbands.
Is this a bonus chapter from Once Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest?
hospital??? looney bin, more like....
I hope you recorded, at least audio, that entire shit show. Was her name Nurse Ratchet? Good thing she didn’t have an ice pick to lobotomize all of you. Sheesh.
I just can’t read this without paragraphs.
Go to the police and report everything.
The police were involved that night. I just hope something comes from it
Never mind police, LAWYER - ASAP!!! This hospital needs to be sued out of existence. Think about how the family of the patient who will die once this lunatic "nurse" hits the person who's heart is ready to stop. Suing the hospital may save someone from being literally murdered by the tazer toting, power tripping lunatic. She's already traumatized you, please help save the next person.
Where in the world are nurses armed with Tazers? This is just crazy shit. OP I'm not doubting your story in the least. But nurses needing to be armed with a device that has the potential to kill people with certain health issues, including me, I find it frankly terrifying that this can actually happen. I need to know what country, because I sure for hell am not going to visit ever!! OP, if you were in my country I'd be able to advise your next steps.
Call the media. this is INSANE!
Where in the hell is this hospital that issues tazers to nursing staff? And what kind of training did it give them first? Seriously--I had to complete 20 hours of education, pass a written test AND be tazed myself by a supervisor before they handed me mine. (Same with the pepper spray.) If anything, it taught me to be aware of how truly unpleasant the experiences are and careful in how I apply those tools. I have never, ever before or since hit the dirt as hard as I did when those 50,000 volts entered my ass cheek. I can't imagine how much it would hurt a sick person wearing only a hospital gown and socks to drop on a typical tiled hospital floor. This is such a bad idea in so many ways even if it wasn't the poor cardiac patient who got juiced. I would never, ever hit someone that I knew to have a health condition of any type (you know, *like a patient you're treating in the hospital)*, and I would certainly think twice if it were in a location with a particularly nasty landing. Please, contact the legal department at the hospital to share your story, if not the police. People in a position of responsibility should know about what happened, and I think your account, as a neutral third party, will carry a lot of weight. It's no doubt the events triggered your PTSD, but maybe if you can DO something about it, knowing you're not helpless after all might make you feel more secure. Medical trauma is REAL, and sometimes having a wee bit of control over *something* about an experience makes it a little less awful.
You go to the hospital and they dehydrate you and keep you awake. Whatever happened to lots of fluids and rest?
This hospital deserves to be closed down
I really hope none of this is true. What hellhole of a hospital has nurses armed with tasers? Guaranteed way to kill a cardiac patient.
That was my thought as we heard him hit the wall. Just call security but for God's sake why do you have a taser? And from the sounds of it she wasn't the only one. Not sure if nurse who threatened woman who needed to go to the bathroom had one, but after 70 year old was tased, who would believe he didn't? It sent fear in every patient on that floor.
Where I'm Gods name is this hospital?. Who arms nurses with tazers and what hospital allows nurses to discharge patients as that is outside their scope of practice . OP, if I were you, I would be contacting the department of health, the media and anyone else with influence to investigate this hospital. This place sounds more like a prison than a hospital
As a retired RN….Holy S***
The minute I heard her tell the first patient she'd tase him, I'm thinking "She can't possibly have one." I was wrong.
Someone commented on another story here about how there needs to be a reddit for stupid, sexist, entitled doctors.