Don’t Sleep with Patients

At this point I’ve worked in a psychiatric hospital and a jail as a nurse and in both jobs I was specifically informed that it is not appropriate to sleep with the patients.  Also, in both jobs, stories were shared with me about nursing staff sleeping with patients in recent months.  At this hospital, it was within the year, and it was male nurse with an adolescent female on a 5585 hold.  

The male nurse who was training me told me about her being admitted on another 5585 recently and telling her, “Hey, I’m sorry that happened.” He goes, “Ya know, sucks.”

I’m taken back by how casually this story is being shared and the fact that this poor girl was brought back here, against her will, on another hold.

I think about this more and figure it is unlikely there is a law that says you can be held against your will if we believe you are a danger to yourself, but if you’ve been raped at the nearest hospital, you can request another.  I’m calling it rape.  No one else did there.  But, the concept of being held against your will is the State, not implying, but declaring you are not competent to make choices for yourself.  Not to mention, she was a minor.

I tried to find a news article about this, but there aren’t any.  There is, however, an article about a $13 million award to three adult females who were sexually assaulted by another staff member here, all within the last 10 years.  Most of the article just talks about how rare it is for these cases to actually go to trial and become public, but in this case, the staff member had been convicted of rape prior to employment. That's how these women could be taken seriously, the fact that he had a history before them, and the hospital didn't do the background check they claim to.

More often than not, patients stay for the duration of their holds without being assaulted.  But working at a facility, whose one job is to keep eyes on patients to make sure they are safe, where stories like this are shared during training was probably my first waving, red flag.

At the jail we get this training with the deputies. And wouldn’t you know it, the night before someone on shift was hot mic-ed while banging it out. This just means their radio talk button was pushed, unbeknownst to them, so all could hear. Many deputies recorded it on their phones and they shared the audio with me. There was undeniable sex happening. Who and with whom was the question. No one knew. Nothing could be proved.

And so, annual training goes on in all these facilities where we can joke and laugh about how silly it is that we have to do this, and gossip about the most recent events.

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Review

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This story is blunt, unsettling, and powerfully confrontational, delivering a necessary and unflinching critique of systemic failure, institutional negligence, and the pervasive culture of silence around sexual misconduct in healthcare and correctional environments. The narrative effectively captures how rape culture and abuse of power are not just isolated incidents but embedded in institutional practices through casual dismissals, inadequate accountability, and a normalization of abuse.

The strength of this piece lies in how it doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable realities of working in institutions that are supposed to protect vulnerable populations but instead often become complicit in their harm. It delivers this critique through a matter-of-fact tone that makes the horror even more stark—mirroring how these systems often respond: with detachment, normalization, and minimization.

The tone is blunt, cynical, and deeply unsettling, effectively reflecting the moral exhaustion that comes from working within systems that routinely fail those they are supposed to protect. There is disbelief and anger when the initial incident involving the adolescent patient is shared so casually. Moral outrage at the realization that the system prioritizes procedure and liability over genuine accountability. Disgust and cynicism in witnessing how these events are handled with jokes and gossip rather than serious reflection or action. And finally, resignation in acknowledging how pervasive and normalized these issues have become within institutional systems.

The story exposes systemic complicity in sexual misconduct within institutions designed to protect vulnerable individuals, critiques the culture of normalization and silence that allows abuse to flourish in healthcare and correctional facilities, highlights the failures of institutional accountability, where even clear evidence of abuse often results in no meaningful action, and reflects on the moral and emotional toll of working within systems that routinely disregard the safety and dignity of those they are meant to serve.

The narrative voice feels raw and honest, offering an insider’s perspective on how these issues are handled (or ignored) within healthcare and correctional environments. The casual nature of the training and gossip contrasts sharply with the seriousness of the abuse, highlighting the moral dissonance within these institutions and offering a chilling juxtaposition.