Psychiatric patient tries to strangle Montreal nurse

MONTREAL• A nurse was nearly strangled Saturday morning by a psychiatric patient in the emergency room of the Montreal General Hospital — an attack that was made all the more horrific because of the absence of a security guard in the crowded downtown ER.

It was the second such attack on a nurse in the Montreal General in less than a year and occurred following cuts in the number of ER staff and the elimination of the overnight security guard near the triage desk, a veteran employee told the Montreal Gazette.

The 34-year-old nurse was assaulted at around 2 a.m. in the secure section of the ER that is reserved for psychiatric patients. The nurse tried in vain to scream while she was being choked, and out of desperation to save her life she poked him in the eyes.

A female patient attendant who happened to be returning to the nursing station discovered the nurse on the floor struggling under the weight of the patient. She jumped on the patient’s back and yelled for help, alerting a male attendant nearby who succeeded in restraining the man.

Since the attack, the Montreal General has beefed up security and posted a guard in the ER until at least Tuesday, said the veteran employee, who did not want her name published for fear of losing her job.

“Everybody’s freaking out,” she said. “It’s a s--- show.”

Montreal police spokesman Benoit Boisselle said police were called at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday to an area of the hospital reserved for psychiatric patients.

They arrested a 25-yearold man, and he is expected to appear in court on Tuesday to be charged with assault.

Boisselle said the patient had been admitted earlier that evening. He did not have a criminal record, he said.

“For a reason that has yet to be determined, (the suspect) assaulted the nurse and used physical violence towards her,” he said.

“A patient attendant came to help her colleague, and the individual did the same thing to her.”

Both victims were hospitalized with non-life-threatening upper-body injuries.

A spokesman for the hospital said that while there was security on duty at the entrance to the emergency room, the psychiatric emergency unit only had a separate guard during the day and evening.

Richard Fahey said the hospital has stationed a security guard there around the clock until further notice.

He said that while the emergency protocol worked and the patient was subdued, the hospital will re-evaluate its policies in the coming days.

“We will be reviewing and debriefing fully on the matter, and maybe identify areas of improvement for the future,” he said in a phone interview.

The problem of violence in hospital ERs is not new. In February 2000, the Montreal General tightened security in its ER following a spate of violence against staff by exasperated patients. The MUHC put up signs throughout its facilities reminding people that violence is not necessarily physical, but threats, insults and shouting are harmful as well.

However, the veteran employee argued budget cuts since last year have made the problem much worse. The MUHC has been ordered by the provincial government to slash tens of millions of dollars from its operating budget.

“We have fewer people on the night shift — fewer nurses and patient attendants,” the employee said. “We used to have a security guard in the emergency at all times, but that’s not the case anymore. There are two security guards on the sixth floor at the security desk, but that’s it.”

What’s more, the Montreal General’s ER assumed the added responsibility of treating emergency psychiatric patients since the Royal Victoria Hospital — which had a psychiatric department — moved to the Glen site in 2015.

“We’re a tertiary-care centre downtown and we have a lot of intoxicated and aggressive emergency patients,” the employee added. “The MUHC has to do something about this. We have nurses who are burned out and some of the senior nurses are leaving. It’s just too much.”

In a similar assault nearly a year ago, a patient tried to strangle a nurse in the ER by wrapping a telephone cord around her neck. That assault occurred outside the psychiatric section and that nurse was never able to return to work, the employee recalled.

An MUHC physician, who was unaware of Saturday’s incident, acknowledged Sunday violence is a problem in the ERs.

“I was assaulted once by a patient in the ER and there was no security guard around,” said the physician, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “This is a story that needs to be told.”