Quote:
Originally Posted by sheltiemom2007
I have to disagree about acting out behavior. I've seen some horrendous behavior by patients on psych units toward staff and its not ok. Physically attacking, getting in people's faces and screaming at them, pounding on nursing room glass and swearing, or threatening to kill their children when you don't get what you want fast enough are examples of bad behavior and not illness. I have been wildly manic but I never abused a staff member, assaulted someone, or threatened to kill their children. Be serious people, not all behavior is because of illness. That attitude is how stigma gets born.
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Good point Sheltiemom2007,
I have also heard and seen this kind of behavior and I truly empathize with the professionals when it happens. I think overtime, personal investment into a patient might be cause for injury when things like this happen. A nurse would be traumatized if they had their kids threatened. Perhaps this is why so many do not engage patients on a deep level.
When institutionalized, a lot of the time those who are in the hospital are dealing with a lot of stress, which makes them prone to outbursts when they are treated poorly by hospital staff.
I think the point people are trying to make is that they don't give hospital staff any reason to be rude and abusive towards them, yet they are. Whether it is empathy burnout, compassion fatigue, or just an abusive narcissistic nurse on a bad day, it is far too easy to abuse a patient without repurcussions.
I have been grossly mistreated even though I haven't done anything to deserve it. Some people are just abusive. The culture in healthcare unfortunately hasn't been the best when looked at under a microscope.
Thanks,
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