Nursing Home Crisis Turns Dangerous as Resident Holds Scissors to Throat

A nurse trying to help a suicidal nursing home resident suddenly found herself in danger when the man opened a pair of scissors and held them to his throat. She backed away to keep from being cut or stabbed. Moments later, a Lawrence County deputy used a Taser after the resident twice attempted to cut his throat, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Deputies and EMS were called to Legacy Riverview in South Point for a resident experiencing a mental health crisis. While emergency crews were on the way, dispatchers learned the man had obtained a pair of scissors and was holding them against his throat. When the deputy entered the resident's room, he saw a nurse attempting to get the scissors away from him. But the scissors were open, and the nurse backed away when it became clear she could be injured. The deputy then took over, attempting to talk to the resident and find out why he wanted to hurt himself. According to the report, the man responded with a chilling warning: “You have 30 seconds before I kill myself.” He then put the scissors to his neck. Deputy Uses Taser The deputy continued trying to talk him down, but the man attempted to cut his throat with the scissors. According to the report, he made a second attempt. When the man moved the scissors away from his neck, the deputy deployed his Taser, striking him in the leg and abdomen. The man dropped the scissors. He followed the deputy's commands to roll onto his stomach and put his hands behind his back and was temporarily handcuffed until EMS arrived. Paramedics transported him to St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington for treatment. Deputies did not take him to jail because of his mental health condition. The scissors were seized as evidence, and the encounter was captured on the deputy's body camera. Nursing Home Workers Face a Real Risk of Violence The danger the nurse faced in this incident highlights a workplace hazard that's familiar to people working in nursing homes, hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration specifically identifies workplace violence as a serious hazard for nursing-home and healthcare workers. Violence can include threats and assaults by patients or residents, and nurses and aides who have the most direct contact with patients can be particularly vulnerable. One nursing-home-specific OSHA statistic helps put the risk into perspective. In 2010, healthcare and social-assistance workers suffered about 11,370 reported assaults by other people, and roughly 2,130 — nearly one in five — occurred in nursing and residential care facilities. OSHA cautions that many additional incidents likely go unreported. More recent federal data continue to show nursing and residential care as a hazardous occupation overall. In 2024, nursing and residential care facilities recorded 5.5 workplace injuries and illnesses for every 100 full-time workers, with 2.4 cases per 100 workers serious enough to involve days away from work. Those figures cover all workplace injuries and illnesses, not just assaults. What Are Nursing Homes Supposed to Do? Handling a violent or potentially violent resident isn't as simple as treating the person like a criminal suspect. Residents may be experiencing dementia, delirium, mental illness, medication problems or another medical crisis. At the same time, facilities have an obligation to protect the employees caring for them. OSHA recommends healthcare facilities develop workplace-violence prevention programs that include identifying residents or situations presenting an increased risk, training employees, establishing procedures for summoning help, promptly reporting violent incidents and having security and law-enforcement plans in place. In an immediate crisis involving a weapon, the priority becomes protecting the resident and everyone around them while getting appropriate medical and mental-health help. That's essentially what happened in South Point. The nurse backed away when attempting to take the scissors became too dangerous. The deputy tried verbal de-escalation before using his Taser when the resident continued attempting to cut himself. EMS then transported the man to the hospital rather than deputies taking him to jail. The incident ended without the nurse being injured and with the resident receiving emergency medical care.

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