Restraints

Physical managements are never fun. They're even less fun when the patient is about two times your weight and hasn't showered in weeks. But it is a great bonding experience with your fellow staff.

I had just finished rounding off when a patient approached me and told me another patient was hurting herself l in her room. Obviously, we moved to intervene, and when she would not stop, and instead began to get violent, we had to retrain her.

It is a testament to my coworkers that none of us hesitated to help, even though all of us were women and none of us found the stench of unwashed body to be one we wanted to carry through the rest of our shift. For a solid twenty minutes, we held her as she fought and screamed and swore, desperately trying to get free to grab a hold of any sharp object she could find. I have some lovely bruises now.

After it became clear that the PRN the nurse had given to calm her down was not taking effect, she called for help, and soon staff from our other units flooded in to help. I had to step back to continue rounds (an extremely vital aspect of our job), and came upon the other patients all grouped together in one of the dayrooms, their eyes wide. They had never seen anything like that before.

“Why couldn't you just leave her alone?” one asked.

“She was hurting herself,” I answered patiently. “We couldn't let her do that.”

“Do you call the police?”

“No—we're trained to handle it,” I smiled.

A few impressed gasps.

“Miri, we had no idea you were so badass!” one blurted, and I laughed.

The laughter broke the tremulous feeling of fear in the room, and peace and smiled returned. The rest of the night flew by, and soon I was driving home.

And, of course, the minute I came home, I dumped my clothes in my laundry basket, showered twice, threw my washcloth into the laundry too, and sat down to write about it all. It's a good reminder, I think, that my job isn't all fun and games and touching moments. Sometimes, it involves strength of mind and body.

That, and a whole lotta soap.