Nurses need protection

Providing care to violent inmates puts health workers at risk

Re: Victoria accused of hiding information about violence in B.C. jails, Dec. 2; and Violence in B.C. provincial jails on the rise, Nov. 26

Two recent stories in The Vancouver Sun have detailed escalating violence at British Columbia’s nine jails, noting that overcrowding and understaffing place both prisoners and corrections officers at increased risk of assault.

Neither story mentions that health care workers in corrections, most of whom are women, are also at risk of violence.

Risks to these workers, some of them nurses who may be asked to provide medications while unescorted, are often minimized. Yet they are exposed daily to the same threats, verbal abuse, and potential violence as corrections officers, while lacking their training and protective equipment.

As an employer, the province is legally responsible for ensuring a safe workplace, meaning that all possible precautions must be taken to minimize risks.

Serious priority must also be placed on improving the security of the nurses who provide care to these often violent prisoners. GAYLE DUTEIL President, B.C. Nurses’ Union