“We need to start taking care of the caregivers.”
That’s from BC Nurses Union President Adrienne Gear following a string of violent incidents against healthcare workers – the latest involving a nurse being strangled to the point of losing consciousness in Vancouver.
Gear told Vista Radio the issues surrounding recruitment and retention is already a tough enough battle in places like Northern Health including PG – making it seem violence is acceptable will only compound the problem.
“If we are not going to improve the working conditions, if we aren’t going to ensure that nurses and other health care workers are safe, we can’t keep them. The problem continues. Improving the working conditions and taking steps to keep staff safe is different in different situations but the employers have to start doing something here.”
“What we are seeing is gaps in the system. In this case, where a nurse was strangled, this patient did have a history of violence. The nurses were aware and they advocated it was not an appropriate placement for this patient and their request for additional security measures or to have the patient admitted to another unit was left unanswered.”
“When we think about pressure-cooker emergency rooms, it is not an excuse that the public and patients are lashing out at nurses but we are certainly seeing more of that. We need to take steps to ensure that we have appropriate staff,” added Gear.
According to the nurses union, on average, there were about 26 serious injuries due to violence that require a time loss claim from WorkSafe BC. Gear noted the number has now ballooned to a minimum of 46 per month.
Simply, put the health authorities are dropping the ball on its “zero-tolerance” policies regarding abuse on nursing and healthcare staff.
“What we see is a culture where it has become acceptable to perpetrate aggression and violence on the people that are providing the care,” Gear added.
She is also calling for more safety measures for nurses when it comes to dealing with patients who have a history of violence.
“What we would like to see is more relational security officers and so this is a model that has been implemented after years and years of advocacy by the British Columbia Nurses Union. These are highly skilled security officers that have additional training for the hospital setting.”
“When we are not communicating the risks between health care providers that is part of the problem. People are then not able to take the right steps to keep them safe and to also ensure that the patient gets the right care they need.”
She adds relational security officers are good at de-escalation and culturally appropriate approaches but are mostly located in the bigger centres and not in the small to medium-sized settings, an outcome Gear would like to see changed.
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