Episode Details

Disclaimer: This episode discusses workplace violence, physical assault, and pregnancy loss. Listener discretion is advised.

In this powerful episode of Nurse Converse, host Jana Price sits down with psychiatric nurse Lora Smith and her attorney, Robert Rehkemper, for a raw conversation about workplace violence in healthcare. Lora recounts her heartbreaking experience of being assaulted by a patient — an attack that led to the loss of her long-awaited pregnancy — and the systemic failures that followed, from lack of security to retaliation by her employer. Robert provides the legal perspective, outlining nurses’ rights to safety, medical care, and protection from retaliation, while stressing the importance of documentation and accountability. This episode is both a cautionary tale and a call to action, as Lora’s courage sheds light on the urgent need for reform in nursing.

>>Nurse Assaulted by Patient, Loses Pregnancy—Her Story Exposes Healthcare’s Safety Crisis

Jump Ahead to Listen:
[00:02:06] Health care violence awareness.
[00:03:21] Childhood inspiration for medicine.
[00:10:54] Standing on tables policy violation.
[00:11:21] Workplace safety during crises.
[00:18:05] Safety concerns in understaffed facilities.
[00:20:31] Unsafe working conditions.
[00:25:07] Workplace violence rights for nurses.
[00:27:30] Counseling and trauma recovery.
[00:33:17] Human vulnerability in nursing.
[00:37:35] Nurses speaking out for safety.
[00:42:01] Nurse safety and working conditions.

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