When I was a newer nurse, I had a schizophrenic patient come into the ER. He needed to be medically cleared to go to the psychiatric ER connected to our hospital. Blood needed to be drawn. When I went to the patient he kept calling me “Kathy from Acme”. I calmly said “Sir, I am not Kathy” and told him my name and that I was his nurse. He kept saying that I was Kathy and I just looked different and changed my appearance. His tone was getting a little aggressive and it seemed to me that he did not like this Kathy from Acme. I did not feel comfortable taking blood from this man. I went to my charge nurse and asked her if she could draw his blood because I did not feel safe doing it myself. She basically told me that I needed to toughen up and will come across patients like this and I will have to do it. I told her I did not feel safe around him. She said that since she had time, she would take his blood for me this time, but I need to be able to do these things myself. This is something I never forget and still get upset about because as a seasoned nurse now, I would NEVER let my coworker go into a patient’s room when they did not feel safe. We are a team and we are supposed to have each others’ backs. One of the main rules with psychiatric patients is if you do not feel safe, get out of their room. Do not be afraid to ask for help and you are not weak because you do not feel safe. We have a tough job so we need to have each others’ backs. Your safety is more important than getting a patient’s blood and do not let anyone tell you differently.