Nurse Who Survived Attack Calls For Increased Hospital Safety

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A University of Minnesota Medical Center nurse says she is pushing for change after she was attacked by a patient.

"It's turned my life upside down," Nurse Kim Oliver said. "This whole situation has turned my life upside down."

Oliver says she became a nurse so she could help people. But on Sept. 10, 2014, she was the one who needed help.

"He has [his] gown open in the back and his pants around his ankles. So I just approached him and said, 'Hey, let's cover you up,' you know, kind of joking around," Oliver said. "And he was fine, there was no problem."

She says the patient she was trying to help had a liver condition and was there for a medication change. Oliver quickly realized he was acting strange.

"All of the sudden he just said, 'I don't want to play with you anymore, f--- you, I don't want to play with you anymore, go play with them,' and he pointed over to the corner. [I thought] 'Oh, that's a little different,'" Oliver said. "So I called the unit that he was on and I said, 'You know, he's heading towards the public elevators. I need help.'"

As the patient got closer to the elevators, Oliver says she called for help a second time, hoping her message would be announced over the intercom.

"Nobody came," Oliver said.

That is when the man grabbed Oliver by the neck and began to squeeze. As she fought, he grabbed her arms.

"He grabbed me by my forearms and kind of shook me around and then threw me to the floor," she said.

Oliver says the patient -- who weighed nearly 300 pounds -- attacked her a second time before security arrived.

She had bruises, a neck strain and was diagnosed with a concussion. Oliver says she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Oliver says her biggest concern is that nobody from the hospital heard her cry for help until it was too late.

"There was no cameras anywhere to where this happened. There's no policy to what should we do when this happens," Oliver said. "And the policy we did have, nothing was followed through on."

Fairview declined to comment on the incident involving Oliver, but in a statement said that an internal review showed no security changes were needed.

And an OSHA review found that Fairview was not negligent in their policies or training.

Oliver thinks that is not enough. She wants cameras on all hospital floors, and she is hoping for new safety procedures.

"No one's ever come up to me and said, 'You know, I'm sorry you had to go through this,' you know, or anything like that," she said.

Oliver says the hospital retaliated against her for raising concerns and stopped helping her with medical expenses.

Fairview says its policy encourages employees to report workplace violence, and it will support them if an incident occurs.