Kelly McLean, a nurse at Erie County Medical Center and member of National Federation of Nurses (NFN), was one of almost a half million nurses who were violently assaulted while on duty last year. The sad truth is that nurses experience more violence on the job than any other profession.
A recent nurse graduate, McLean was with Erie’s Acute Psychiatry unit for just three months when she was violently assaulted by a patient. The same patient had attempted to jump the nurse’s station desk to attack a physician just six weeks prior. Unfortunately, on this day in August 2010, the patient succeeded and attacked McLean with such force that she was hospitalized for several days and in recovery for 16 weeks.
Approximately 90 minutes before the assault occurred, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations toured the floor. The evaluators cited the open nurse’s station as a safety concern—a concern that had been raised in the past but ultimately dismissed by administrators who said that adding windows or other barriers to the station would block communication with patients.
Since the assault, Kelly is using her voice to advocate for adequate security for all nurses who are on the front lines everyday. McLean has joined NFN and her state union, the New York State Nurses Association, in raising awareness about the prevalence of violence against nurses across the country and encouraging others to lend their voice as well.
“For the number of nurses in this country who have been assaulted, it’s important that we take these stories and learn from them,” said McLean. “Unfortunately, nurses are discouraged from reporting these incidents and accept them as a part of our job. That has to change. You have the right to protect yourself.”
In New York where McLean still works, it is now a felony to attack a nurse on the job. To promote New York’s new law and draw attention to the critical issue of violence, NYSNA has launched a poster campaign. At the national level, NFN is working with its other state member associations, particularly Ohio Nurses Association, in passing similar legislation to protect its nurse membership and nurses everywhere.
“National Federation of Nurses was right on the spot after my incident. They did rallies within a week of my attack and immediately brought awareness and a broader consciousness to the problem,” says McLean. “You have the right to protect yourself. Just as patients have rights, as a nurse, you have rights also. People should have the right to stand up and be heard without the fear of repercussions.”
While the hospital has instituted additional safety measures, such as put a security guard in each “zone” and panic button devices that nurses can clip to their clothes for emergency assistance, the station where McLean was attacked remains open and therefore vulnerable to breach by potentially violent patients.