I’m a nurse in a hospital and I had a patient encounter that I never thought I’d go through.
I was discharging a patient and he kept saying inappropriate things to me. In my experience, patients say inappropriate things all the time and I just brush it off. The patient kept asking me for my number and saying he wanted to take me out for lunch. I told him no and that I was a married woman. When I wheeled him in the elevator, he told me to give him a hug. I said no and stepped away but he reached back to grab me by the waist. When he pulled me closer he tried to kiss me on the cheek. I was shocked. Like an idiot I continued to wheel him to the exit instead of walking away.
When I got back to the unit I reported the incident to all the supervisors and security. I just feel so violated. I feel like I didn’t do enough to keep myself safe. I’m mad at myself for ignoring my gut feeling to have someone else with me in the elevator. I’m mad at myself for awkwardly laughing at the gross things he said instead of telling him to not talk to me that way. I should have known better.