Visiting Nurse Protections Demanded after Nurse Tragically Killed

• After the tragic death of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, there have been increased demands for protection against violence from patients of visiting nurses.
• Nurse Grayson worked in healthcare for over 35 years, 10 of those being as a visiting nurse taking care of patients in a home environment.
• State Representative Susan Jones and the President of the Connecticut Association for Health at Home Tracy Wodatch have both spoken in favor of increased protections and security measures. 

The loss of nurse Grayson during a home visit has sparked calls for greater protection from violence against nurses.

Connecticut representative Susan Johnson has stated, “She will be working with her colleagues to find out where the system broke down and how she can fix it, including making sure prisons provide mental health intervention and judges get the evidence they need to make more informed decisions.”

Nurses are speaking out in celebration of Grayson’s life and career as a nurse. Ensuring she will not be forgotten and that future protections prevent something like this from happening again.

The Loss of Joyce Grayson

Joyce Grayson was a 63-year-old nurse who’d worked in health care for over 35 years. Grayson spent 26 years as an LPN with the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and for the last 10 years, she has worked as a visiting nurse.

On October 28th, Grayson was meant to spend 10 minutes visiting a patient in a transitional house. After missing her other appointments, Grayson’s family discovered her phone’s GPS said she was still in this home.

Police searched the home and recovered her body from the basement. The method of Gray’s death has not been publicly released, nor should it be the focus of this tragedy.

Joyce Grayson was a mother to six children, a foster parent, and a nurse who gave over half her life to the care of her patients. Her death has sparked demands for better protections for visiting nurses.

Over $45,000 has been raised in celebration of Grayson’s life. Nurses have shared their support on this donation page so Grayson’s family can help “make changes to the laws/healthcare system so this never happens again.” A fellow visiting nurse said she’s “hopeful Joyce’s loss will not be in vain and the safety of nurses will now be a priority.”

Protections for Visiting Nurses

Violence against nurses is at an all-time high, with 58% of nurses reporting an increase in violence since COVID-19. Visiting nurses may be subjected to an even greater risk of going into environments with illegal drugs, guns, verbal abuse, violence, and assault.

These places an even greater need for protecting visiting nurses. Elara Caring, the agency Grayson worked for as a visiting nurse, stated: “Even with the many safeguards we have in place, it is absolutely critical that we work to ensure that our safety protocols and training remain as robust as possible and that our nurses have the support they need to safely care for patients.”

However, nurses are often unable to access support when dealing with dangerous environments due to a pervasive culture of shame that prevents them from going to management when a patient makes them uncomfortable.

Agencies may try to minimize the situation, saying things like “just make sure there’s nothing between you and the door” and then sending another visiting nurse. This leads to the nurses normalizing dangerous behavior from patients as “just part of the work.”

Tracy Wodatch, the president and CEO of the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home, says nurses are missing security and crucial information, “If we don’t know those issues we can’t mitigate that risk.” She has stated the need for collaboration across systems that provide patient information so nurse knows if they are working with a patient with a known history of violence.

Wodatch has also called for other protections, such as self-defense training for nurses or wearable security devices that can contact emergency services with the push of a button.

Another option comes from a 2013 study on protecting visiting nurses, which proposes a Protection Matric Risk Assessment and Management Tool that suggests specific interventions based on the risk posed to the nurse.

These interventions are based on the type of visit, the time, and the specific situation each patient presents. For high-risk environments, it’s recommended that a police escort accompany the nurse, while moderate-risk environments may only require a second nurse or chaperone.

The Bottom Line

While many options are available for agencies and legislators looking to protect their visiting nurses, what matters now is that action is taken. Nurses deserve safety and dignity while caring for their patients.

Nursing CE Central mourns the loss of Joyce Grayson and hopes future protections prevent a repeat of this tragedy.   

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