Part II- “Yes a swallowed two razors”
It was one of the first times I was “Clinic 1” which is sort of a charge nurse position. I probably had been working corrections for a few months (also a new grad). I heard over our radios “Medical ICS- SIB” which means medical emergency self injurious behaviour. I respond to the unit and see the inmate sitting in a chair holding the side of his face, the floor around him is covered in blood. I knew this inmate, he did some time in segregation a few months back and he was working very hard on his anger management and stress levels (see part I) One of the officers report that he cut the side of his face and swallowed two razors. I remove his hand to see the damage done and blood starts pulsating from his cheek on to the floor. There are multiple lacerations from the corner of his mouth to his ear. He has no shortness of breath, lungs sounds are clear and o2 sats are good. I tell the officers to call 9-1-1. We rushed him to the clinic to meet the ambulance.
I arrive in the clinic and ask the ETA of rescue and the Health Services Administrator stated she didn’t call because a provider must see the patient first. This was the first time that as a RN I had to stand my ground. “I am a Registered Nurse If I say call 911 there’s a reason! He’s lost a lot of blood and I can’t get the bleeding to stop!” I had gone through 7-8 ABD pads not to mention the blood that was pooled around him back in the pod. The provider quickly came out because the HSA obviously didn’t even tell her I was coming, quickly gave a report, she didn’t even look at him 5 seconds and stated he should go out.
We find out later that day that the Inmate was mad because he was supposed to be moved to another unit. At the time he had been serving time in a disciplinary unit in General Population. He was told he was going to be moved that day. Officers came to pick up a few Inmates to move them and didn’t grab him. He immediately grabbed a razor slit the side of his face a swallowed them. He was so mad, he had been working for months to get out of the disciplinary unit and thought they had forgot about him. Little to his knowledge they were coming right back to grab him.
Once the EMTs arrived he was shipped to a local hospital. Razors were removed from his stomach.
Lessons Learned This Day:
- Always trust your instincts- I knew that his injuries were too extensive and he needed to be sent out. I reported the HSAs actions to my Director of Nursing and how her actions interfered with getting that Inmate medical attention. Her actions could have caused negative outcomes for him.
- You can’t let your patient actions get to you. If you do it will be too easy to get burnt out. Always take the opportunity to educate and motivate. As a correctional nurse you will see inmates make horrible decisions and then have to serve the consequences.