More workers attacked in ongoing 'safety crisis' at Iowa mental health facility

[TexasTowelie]

At least four state employees have been injured in violent outbursts from patients at the Independence Mental Health Institute in the last two weeks.

It’s the same facility that made headlines in May after nurse Tina Suckow spoke publicly about being beaten unconscious and ultimately removed from the state’s payroll for what she contends was “not healing quickly enough.”

The latest assaults include a nurse punched in the nose and three residential treatment workers who sustained head or neck injuries from patient attacks, according to information from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

The nurse initially gave two weeks' notice after the attack, but she rendered her resignation immediate after she was left — during the same June 6 shift — to work in the sex offender unit by herself while coworkers responded to another emergency, AFSCME said.

Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2019/06/21/iowa-independence-mental-health-institute-safety-crisis-violence-dhs-health-care-afscme-attacks/1513162001/

[tulipsandroses]

1. Sad state of affairs

I'm glad attention is being brought to this matter. I worked in a private facility but we often had lack of staffing as well. The way we treat the mentally ill is atrocious. You cannot adequately run a mental health unit with bare bones staffing. Things go from 0 to 100 quickly. Not enough funding. We need to demand better. Whether its our private facilities or public facilities.

We have a mental health crisis in this country-but we are not doing anything. The only time our politicians want to talk about it is when there is a tragedy- school shooting- then since they don't want to do anything about guns, they start talking about mental health, meanwhile they are doing nothing to fund our facilities. It is shameful!