On Oct. 18, an Aitkin County Sheriff’s Investigator was shot and killed by a patient he was guarding. In early November, the Minnesota Department of Health put St. Cloud Hospital on “immediate jeopardy” status, but removed the status Nov. 6.
Increased violence has been an issue at other hospitals in Minnesota. At Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota Medical Center’s psychiatric unit, violent patient-on-staff incidents increased 60 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to the Star Tribune.
After a patient chased nurses with a metal pole at Maplewood-based St. John’s Hospital in 2014, new laws about hospital security emerged in state legislature. Minnesota hospitals are now required to create violence response plans and train staff on skills to identify agitated patients or visitors.
Numerous other hospitals and health systems are simply glad a similar situation didn’t occur to them. “For many hospitals, it’s more, ‘Oh, thank God that wasn’t us,'” said Carrie Mortrud, RN, of the Minnesota Nurses Association.
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