I have long suspected this, but a recent survey confirmed it. Veteran's Health Administration employees undergo TWICE AS MUCH verbal abuse and risk of workplace violence than the employees of the Postal Service.
In the six years I have been working for the VA, I have personally experienced or witnessed the following:
1. A male staff member threatening to cut off the ponytail of a female staff member with a giant knife that was brandished in front of more than 20 patients.
2. A patient assault the clinic director with his quad cane.
3. I was backed against an elevator and forcibly told to "get right with Jesus".
4. A patient threatened a physician with a knife in an attempt to get narcotics prescribed to him.
5. The patient in #5 made innapropriate sexual comments about my breasts that same day.
6. I was threatened by a patient who told me he would murder me if I didn't get his doctor to write a precription for morphine for him.
7. A co-worker bragged about his skills as a practioner of black magic that allowed him to get revenge on anyone who crossed him. He also noted how many guns he has, and that people who mess with him always pay.
8. A co-worker beat up his wife in the parking lot by slamming her head against the hood of the car.
9. I have be screamed at, harrassed, gossiped about, and directly threatened by both patients and co-workers.
10. We all deal with hostility from the patients on a daily basis.
None of these patients have been banned from getting care here, although some have been reprimanded.
None of the staff mentioned has ever been fired.
In your face, Post Office.
Why on earth do I stick around? Three words: NURSING SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP
If I don't get accepted to the Nursing program, I am so outta here. Life is just too short.
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