AIBU to think I can be a mental health nurse without being physically attacked?

[Treebauble]

I have been thinking about going back to university now that my children are a little older to go to university for nursing. My dh says I should do adult nursing and I was really interested in doing mental health nursing, specifically with the aim that I could work with youth with issues such as severe autism. My DM thinks if I go in to mental health I will be forced to work in a ward where I will be physically attacked and it will be understaffed, so it could be quite dangerous. I don't know if I am being naive. AIBU to assume there is adequate staffing levels of nurses in mental health so there would be many people around if any patient were to get violent and that it would be safe? For those that know, is adult nursing less risky?

Being physically attacked and being understaffed can happen on any ward. Adult nurses are at risk, they have drunk patients, mental health, drug addicts, patients with dementia, all sorts. Many patients need one to one (or more) care, they don’t always get it. All areas of nursing have risk. Have you thought about doing paediatric nursing and moving into CAMHS? Or being an autism nurse specialist? There are other options.

I work in a MH unit, extremely understaffed here, lots of bank and agency which riles service users up as lack of continuity of care. Yes staff get attacked, quite often. It can be the nature of the job. On the other hand it can also be extremely rewarding work. It depends what you want out of it. Training for safety (holds and defence) is mandatory in our Trust. PERT etc.

When my sister was a nurse, she got attacked loads of times and that was just in A&E.

I was an RN (Adult). I had a chair thrown at me by a teenage girl working in a walk in centre, dementia patients tried to hit and bite me, patients on a neuro ward scratched me. The verbal abuse and aggression too.

I don’t consider being a nurse and being injured at work is worth the low salary.

Your DM is right. Dire staffing levels in both adult and mental health nursing. It’s not safe for patients or for staff.

Your DH sorry.

FFS apologies for my third post. I’ll try to get it right this time . What I was trying to say are that both adult and mental health are dangerous and actually, while your DH is right that mental health wards are dangerous, adult areas are bad too. It is really not the safest career.

I'm a paediatric nurse, I've been scratched, kicked and has my hair pulled so hard I thought my head might fall off! None of the above because of aggression though.

Adult nurse here- regularly verbally and sometimes physically assaulted- usually by older adults with dementia, younger people less so. Whilst it's not inevitable, it's a high risk environment, and it's a possibility

I’m a psychiatrist and have been assaulted a couple of times in 10+ years. The nurses deal with this far, far more frequently.

There are the illness related unpredictable assaults, the predictable ones when everyone is ready to contain a situation (someone being sectioned, someone receiving meds against their will) and then the (IMO worst kind) assaults from badly behaved people (rather than mentally ill) who end up in psych wards courtesy of the police or A&E.

It can be tough.

Have you worked in any care settings before OP?

I think it depends where you work as to the risk of violence, but in my limited experience working with youths with severe autism would involve a high risk of physical violence.

I am an adult nurse, have worked in a few different areas over the last five years and have only been physically assaulted a couple of times, not many. Before I started my nurse training I worked with kids with autism etc, and was physically assaulted pretty much every week.

I worked in secure units with some of the most dangerous people in the country and was never attacked. Then again, I know nurses in an NHS hospital who get almost routinely verbally abused and attacked by patients, usually under the influence.

Yes unfortunately you would be at risk of attack and there could well be times where there weren’t enough staff.

Also, have you looked into occupational therapy instead of nursing?

The aggression was one of the reasons I gave up mental health nursing back in the 80s. I've had telephone wires round my neck, my head bashed on a sink, been squeezed so tight by a massive bloke that I broke a rib, had a scolding hot teapot throw across the room at me... I could go on. Something pretty much on a monthly basis. I got to the stage where I was shaking in fear before each shift. On nights I was often alone with 28 patients. That was in the 80s though, in a big, old fashioned psychiatric hospital. There may be much better safety for staff nowadays.

Well theres is quite a high risk yes. I worked as a mental health support worker before I had my son and I've been physically assaulted several times. My husband is a mental health nurse and has also been assaulted a fair few times. Neither of us have ever been seriously injured but that does happen. Someone I was on shift with once got stabbed in the chest with a large shard of plastic broken off a toilet seat once... it was pretty horrific! You will get control and restraint training or whatever it's called now days... but yeah I guess it's not something to go into if you want assurances that you will never be touched in aggression. As it's highly likely you will be even with adequate staffing levels.

You'd be better training as a Learning Disability Nurse if you would like to work with severe ASD... and the job market is great... my DD2 qualified 4 years ago and in in her dream job.

But you WILL be attacked at some point. I have worked with severe ASD for 14 years, and most days I am hit at some point, I have been bitten, hit, kicked, spat at, had objects flung at my head (I can catch a chair pretty well) and on one momentous occasion was knocked out! (that was unlucky tho..the teenager was aiming for someone else)

Weirdly I still love my job, cos the kids are awesome !

Treebauble if you are looking to work with people with autism then learning disability nursing might be right up your street. Please feel free to PM me and I would be very happy to tell you more!

Adult nurse here, have been kicked bitten and threatened with being killed.

Assaults against staff are really common on MH wards. I used to visit them regularly as part of my job (police) and really felt for the staff, who seem to be doing an impossible job.

www.nhsconfed.org/news/2018/09/drop-in-mental-health-nurses-shows-nhs-under-severe-strain

In the nicest possible way, you are a bit naive to think that mental health nursing has adequate staffing levels, sorry!

High five medusastill

To be fair it entirely depends on where you work. I think most people experience some level of challenging behaviour but you are far more likely to experience it in a hospital or inpatient facility than you will if you are working in a community team. As a student you should be well protected by you placement.

Go be a mental health nurse and fight stigmatised views that suggest those with mental health problems are going to be more violent and attack you then any other person

Unfortunately it does happen, even if the workplace isn't understaffed. I've worked in many settings, most of which aren't understaffed, and still been attacked. I work at the moment with young adults with autism amongst other problems and some can be so unpredictable. We are far from understaffed, but sometimes you don't know when they're going to hit, kick or pull your hair. You'll get appropriate training but personally I find it gets hard after a while. I work closely with one girl who is the most challenging and I've had enough to be honest. I also work in elderly care and dementia and find it a lot easier and pleasant (mentally). Why not see if you can join an agency to work in a mental health unit or with people with autism, see how you feel? It's not for everyone but you might love it.

And don’t forget, if you are injured at work after being assaulted and have the audacity to take sick leave, you will still be subject to the NHS sickness absence stages!