Shocking Video of Nurse Choked; What We Can Learn

There are a series of unfortunate mistakes occur in the video below.  It is not a “technique” or a talk-down de-escalation  trick, but a series of tactics AND techniques for a situation like this. In order to better protect staff and actual patients, culture change must take place.

As with all videos we use for training, there is no ridicule intended. We simply wish to use any real-world situations, captured on video, in order to learn what we can from them.

Watch the entire newscast, then consider the discussion points below the actual video. 


Countless providers who have trained with us should be able to point out learning takeaways from the above video:


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  1. It is obvious verbal skills are ineffective. Staff must have solid communication skills, but be able to recognize when an attempt of de-esclation should cease.
  2. Minimum safe distance is 6-8 feet. That is what is required for the average person to process information.
  3. If a person closes the 6-8 foot gap, the staff member should change from a surveying stance into a defensive (non-aggressive) stance. Hand placement is crucial.
  4. Notice the pre-assault indicators observed in the attackers body language? Staff must be trained to recognize the signs, and create space when they feel aggressed upon. Standing your ground when a person is agitated may lead to tension flaring even higher.
  5. The attacker was committed with his attack. There was no feinting.
  6. Notice the hands of the staff member being choked. At that very moment, her hands appeared to grasp the attackers. Something we see humans do under stress.
  7. See the confused tangle? Many assaults turn into one.
  8. When the criminal attacker attempted to flee, another staff member tackles him to prevent it. This in turn causes staff to remain in contact with a person it may have been safer to allow leave (and let police capture him as the criminal he was).
  9. Although the agency has hospital police, how long was it before the police arrived? So much can happen in the time between an attack is initiated and help arrives. Staff must have options of escape. 
  10. There appears to be little acknowledgement on behalf of the hospital and their administration regarding criminal acts of violence directed toward staff. We have witnessed this across the country due to a lack of recognition of who should or who should not be considered a “patient.”
  11. See the emotional burden the victimized staff still carry? One doesn’t have to die to be changed forever from an assault.
  12. When the attacker was asked why he attacked the nurses, his response boils down to perceived customer service.
  13. Here a person, yet again, was arrested for an assault occurring in a psych unit, and was criminally convicted. Staff sometimes remain connected with a person, won’t defend themselves against a person, don’t report criminal assaults, and more, all because of false perception of what is or is not a patient.

How many more will it take?nurse you just attacked