The Impact of Gang Violence on Nurses Hospitals across our country are bombarded with victims of gang violence. As a nurse, you see patients and care for them, doing your best to nurture them back to health. You spend time with them, and do your best to ensure they make a full recovery. You watch them walk out of the hospital, and wish them well. Then, a month later, the same patient is right back in the hospital. The sad fact is, it was not an illness, but rather gang violence that brought them into the emergency room. A Busy Emergency Room Trent was a registered nurse, working at a busy hospital in the emergency room. His story puts the exact perspective on what it’s like for nurses to see gang violence. Saturday night at 11 pm Trent heard the call that there were multiple victims being transported in. An all too familiar scenario, such a call either indicates multi car accident or gang violence, and in most cases, it is due to gang violence. This night the victims were-
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A 19-year-old male with gun shots to the abdomen and hip. Prognosis is good that he will recover, however he may have some paralysis. A 17-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the head. Although alive upon arrival, he passed within an hour. A 15-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the leg and shoulder. Although his prognosis is good that he will survive this incident, he was proudly posting photos of his injuries online while boasting that he killed a rival gang member. A 14-year-old female that was 4 months pregnant. She lost the baby, and later that night lost her own life. A 15-year-old female with a shrapnel in her head, face, and shoulder. She too was posting photos online and vowed to retaliate against the rival gang members. Related: Medical Mistakes in the United States
The opposing gang members were transported to a trauma center across town; it is very dangerous to admit rival gangs to the same medical center. 4 members of the rival gang passed away on this night, and 3 remained hospitalized.