Workplace violence stats sobering
Union official says more must be done to protect staff from physical attacks
It’s becoming routine for frontline hospital workers to be punched, kicked and have things thrown at them, according to research from the union that represents nurses, personal support workers and others across Ontario.
Many of those hospital workers say they’re afraid to report assaults for fear of reprisal, according to a poll of workers.
Sometimes workplace violence has catastrophic results. This summer, an admitting clerk at Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and arms by a man who had grabbed a pair of scissors. The man was later charged with attempted murder.
The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, which has launched a campaign to raise awareness about hospital violence, says a Plexiglas barrier, which many hospitals have, might have prevented the stabbing.
In August, the Royal Ottawa Health Group was fined $75,000 for failing to protect a nurse who was stabbed and severely injured by a patient at the Brockville Mental Health Centre.
Michael Hurley — president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, which polled frontline hospital workers across the province — said violence is endemic in Ontario hospitals and not enough is being done to protect workers.
The union found that, across the province, 68 per cent of personal support workers and registered practical workers say they had experienced at least one incident of violence on the job within the last year.
In Ottawa, the numbers were slightly lower and some hospitals say they have taken steps to reduce violence.
Sixty four per cent of Ottawa RPNs and support workers polled said they had experienced at least one incident of violence in the past year. One in four of those surveyed said they had experienced violence on the job at least nine times in the past year — which is higher than the provincial average.
The union — which is the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees — polled 1,976 workers in seven Ontario communities, including Ottawa, the vast majority of them women.
“These catastrophic events happen fairly frequently, but what the study is trying to draw attention to is that punching, slapping, kicking and throwing objects at people is a frequent event in the hospital setting,” said Hurley.
He said the campaign began after a 2016 nursing conference in which attendees were asked if they had been assaulted on the job. Everyone raised their hand.
A spokesperson for Ottawa’s Queensway-Carleton Hospital acknowledged reports of workplace violence there are increasing “partially because of the increased volume of patients with dementia and responsive behaviours, and partially because of the increased volume of mental health patients with aggressive behaviour.”
Spokesperson Ann Fuller said the hospital is “firmly committed” to addressing the issue and has taken a number of steps to do so — including protective barriers, panic alarms, special training and assessments of high-risk parts of the hospital. She said there is more work to be done.
“We have an incredible and dedicated team of staff, volunteers and physicians at Queensway Carleton, and we really want to tackle this issue to make sure that they are safe.”
Among other things, the poll found that 42 per cent of nurses and personal support workers who responded said they had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment or assault.
“Whether it is physical, verbal or sexual, Ontario hospital staff face the potential threat of assault with every shift regardless of what type of hospital they work at,” said Hurley.
The union said hospital crowding, dementia rates and increasing use of illicit drugs are all contributing to violence in hospitals.
At Queensway-Carleton Hospital, Fuller said measures to reduce violence also include: implementing a flagging system, so staff are aware of patients with a history of violence; more money spent on sitters and guards to monitor patients with a high risk of violence; and encouraging staff to call Code White (a hospital policy for dealing with people who are or may become violent) more often, rather than trying to deal with issues themselves.
In a statement The Ottawa Hospital said reducing workplace violence is a focus. “We take all reasonable precautions to prevent incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace.”