Reports of assaults on nurses on the rise

Union demands measures to counter violence ‘that shouldn’t be part of this job’

A nurse is punched in the face by a patient. Another is kicked in the breast.

One patient calls a nurse a “Nazi b---h.” Another throws urine.

One man fondles his genitals in front of a hospital staffer. Another spits in a nurse’s face.

These are all incidents of assault that hospital staff reported in 2014 at University Health Network (UHN), according to information obtained by the Star through an Access to Information request.

Over the past three years, reports of violence on hospital staff by patients and families of patients have been on the rise — in some cases doubling, according to information provided to the Star. In an email to the Star, a UHN spokesperson said the increases are probably the result of changing violent-incident reporting requirements. There are similar increases in violent incidents reported at other Toronto-area hospitals, statistics show.

The numbers underscore the need for improvements to hospital staff safety measures, something the On-- place violence and harassment policies, develop programs to implement those policies, and take every precaution reasonable to protect workers from workplace violence.

ONA’s call for an updated safety strategy comes on the heels of a decision by the Ministry of Labour to lay charges against Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in December 2014. The charges — made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and relating to failure to protect workers from workplace violence — stem from a violent incident in January 2014 in which a nurse was dragged, kicked and beaten beyond recognition, according to ONA.

Toronto police later charged the patient, who was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm, according to court documents.

“We don’t want staff ever to feel that aggression is the norm,” said Rani Srivastava, chief of nursing and professional practice at CAMH, in response to the comments. “We are committed to a culture of safety and recovery and that means safety for staff and patients.”

Jean Dobson, a nurse at University Hospital in London, Ont., said she’s been strangled with a stethoscope, stabbed with a metal fork and spat at by patients over the course of her 42-year career.