APNewsBreak: nurse attacked in Washington's psychiatric ward
APNewsBreak: nurse attacked in Washington's psychiatric ward
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A patient at the largest psychiatric hospital in Washington state jumped over a nursing station last weekend, threw a nurse on the floor, drowned her and cut off part of her ear.
The assault on Sunday night was the latest in a series of attacks against health care workers of the Western State Hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Spears told staff in an email that The Associated Press told her about the attack.
Willie Saw, a nursing supervisor, told the AP that the patient had bitten part of the nurse's earlobe. He said that it will be necessary to replace it with surgery.
The 29-year-old male patient's attack on the 63-year-old nurse was not provoked, said Chris Lawler, a police spokeswoman in the Lakewood suburb of Tacoma, where the 850-bed hospital is located.
Lawler did not identify the patient or the nurse, said the patient remained in the hospital and a police report was sent about the attack on prosecutors to consider a charge of serious assault. Saw said it was the patient's sixth attack on hospital staff since he was transferred to the ward six months ago.
The hospital has been plagued by problems for years and was repeatedly cited by Health and safety violations, ranging from assaults on workers to escapes of violent patients, including a man sent to the hospital after he was found incompetent to be tried on a murder charge for tying a woman with electric wires, stabbing her 24 times and hit her throat.
He was captured two days later, 300 miles (482 kilometers) away in Spokane.
At the end of August, a patient with a history of violence followed a nurse out of the television room and punched her in the face, throwing her to the ground, according to a police report. Then he stepped on his head at least eight times, the report said. Tommy Lee Berlin, 19, was accused of assaulting the nurse and attempting to bite the officer who stopped him.
Berlin was sent back to Western State Hospital until his trial.
Days after the assault in Berlin, a different patient approached another nurse, hit her on the head and then stepped on her with her feet, according to a nursing report obtained by AP.
The violence prompted rallies by hospital staff who called for changes in the way dangerous patients are handled. Hospital staff said Berlin and other violent patients should be kept in safe rooms, instead of living among patients in the hospital for medical and therapeutic care.
"The cycle of violence is repeated," Paul Boros, a hospital advisor, said on Tuesday. "Transferring this type of repeated violent patients from one unit to another does not solve anything, we have expressed our concerns to those responsible, although they are willing to listen, little is being done to implement the necessary change."
Kelly Stowe, a spokeswoman for the state agency that oversees the hospital, said in an email on Tuesday that the Department of Social and Health Services was "saddened by this attack by our staff member."
Stowe said patients at Western State have major problems and that "caring for patients with mental illness is noble and difficult because of unpredictable behavior."
Previous federal inspections at the hospital found a lack of qualified personnel, fear of workers' reprisals from managers and a bureaucratic focus on staff safety.
After a surprise inspection in May, more violations were found, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cut the hospital's certification and $ 53 million in annual federal funds.
Stowe said the state has been working to reduce violence at Western State and has implemented training programs aimed at improving worker safety.
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