Violence against frontline staff isn't going under the radar at Windsor Regional Hospital.
As heard on AM800 News, a poll done by the Canadian Union of Public Employees released on Wednesday found 68% of registered practical nurses and personal support workers across Ontario have experienced violence at least once in the last year. Nearly 20% report being assaulted nine times or more over that same period.
Across both Met and Ouellette campuses, there have been 49 incidents from 2015 - 2017 of staff or patients needing medical attention because of a violent interaction.
In ten of those cases employees had to take time off work following the incident.
Registered Nurse and president of the Ontario Nurses Association, Linda Haslam-Stroud, feels Windsor Regional Hospital is a committed partner in tackling the problem.
"We have Windsor Regional [Hospital] who are now very quickly investigating violence incidents with a lot of rigour in relation to what has happened and what can we do to prevent that from happening again," says Haslam-Stroud.
Windsor Regional Hospital spokesperson Steve Erwin says it's a serious issue that isn't being shrugged off.
"I know for Windsor Regional Hospital, the important thing is to make sure the conversation is open and involves different sides," says Erwin. "It's important to be aware of when these incidents occur because if we're not aware of them we can't really affect change to look at our systems and see where we can improve."
Nurse speaking with senior male patient in bed. (Photo courtesy iStock/monkeybusinessimages)
However, Haslam-Stroud says there is still plenty of room for improvement.
She says in some cases, security needs to be improved.
"We do not need a rent-a-security guard for the night," says Haslam-Stroud. "We are highly skilled professionals. We want to provide the best care possible and we also want security to be highly trained and skilled, so they can work with us as a team."
Following a stabbing incident at the hospital, Erwin says security has been beefed up.
"We certainly enhanced security — in recent months even — recognizing some of the volatility that's potentially out there."
Haslam-Stroud says while security is a concern, the main obstacle is how the problem is viewed.
"One of the biggest issues for nurses, frankly, is the fact that there are many people that believe that violence is part of our job," says Haslam-Stroud. "That's the biggest obstacle is that culture of acceptance."
The survey of 1,976 CUPE members was conducted in seven communities in Ontario earlier this fall and the results released in Windsor on Wednesday.
— with files from Peter Langille