I’m a little upset and felt like ranting about this.

Been in hospital this last week, my dad came to see me yesterday and we were chatting - I was telling him how fantastic the nurses were, mentioned how much kindness they’d shown me, how much rubbish they have to put up with - he agreed, and mentioned something that happened earlier in the week (I had been very unwell with a spot of psychosis - most of the week was a blank until my meds kicked in, he said I was sleeping and would have “gone (even more) mental” at this man...

Apparently some total bastard had been ranting and raving, having a total racist, misogynist meltdown, screeching about how he only wanted white nurses, hurling the N word at nurses, calling the nurses “bi*ches” - just being a total fucking dickhead - apparently he was intoxicated and/or mentally ill but Idgaf tbh. How much of this BS do healthcare professionals have to put up with? Ngl, I’d refuse to treat this man if I was a nurse.

I do get that when ill and frustrated, people can be rude, but there is no excuse for this behaviour AT ALL. My dad said they’d shuffled the staff around so only the white staff members would have to tolerate him/the targets of his vitriol didn’t have to treat him, but honest to god, I wouldn’t want to treat a man who had abused my colleagues like this, not to mention majority of the staff putting up with him were women (obviously) and he’d been calling them “bit*hes” and was, by the sounds of it, kicking off and being physically aggressive too.

On top of this verbal abuse, I know many nurses are physically and sexually assaulted - I’d been allocated a lot of different nurses that week and had been chatting to them as I got better - I asked a few of them about how they put up with scary/grabby/misogynistic men - asked if they got scared...because I’m scared of violent men. The nurses just kind of said they’re used to it, that it was part of the job, that most patients are lovely...they’re saints if you ask me. Idk how they cope.

Sexual/racial harassment and physical/sexual assault really shouldn’t be an occupational hazard :( add to that that these people (most of them women) work 12 hour shifts and aren’t paid enough.

I think sexual assault and harassment must be astronomical. I don’t think women should be forced to deal with leering/demeaning/sexually aggressive men - there probably aren’t enough male nurses to shoulder this burden for their female colleagues though :(

I also just feel like saying the vast majority of healthcare professionals I’ve spoken to/been treated by are wonderful, caring, patient, encouraging women. I wish they didn’t have to put up with the abusive behaviour :(