Vancouver nurse, union say concerns over drug use in hospitals politicized
A Vancouver nurse is speaking out, saying politicians are using recent accounts of concerns related to the safety of health-care workers for political gain.
Serena Eagland, a clinical nurse specialist with a decade of experience treating substance use disorders, said politicizing this issue is only creating more harm during a public health crisis.
“When we have a toxic drug supply and when thousands of British Columbians have died, it doesn’t do good for anyone,” she said.
Questions about nurse safety have dominated the legislature this month, following a leaked internal memo from Northern Health, issued last July, that suggested weapons were allowed in hospitals and drugs could be used without any recourse for nurses.
The province said the memo predated policies regarding decriminalization, and was poorly worded.
'Nurses are overworked'
Eagland said drug use in hospitals is not new. What has changed, she said, is the toxic and volatile drug supply.
“Medications that we are able to give within a medical setting don’t always meet someone’s pain needs, or their substance use needs, and so people then need to use to have those needs met,” she said.
Eagland acknowledged stories from her colleagues regarding exposure to drugs in the workplace and added the safety of health-care workers is paramount.
“People are worried and feeling unsafe and nurses are overworked, so I think it’s fair to say that those feelings are very accurate,” she said.
'There's two truths here'
Adriane Gear, the president of the BC Nurses’ Union, told CTV News that patients using substances within a health-care setting has become a concerning trend – but that the issue is complex. She said many nurses lack a culture of safety at work.
“There’s two truths here,” Gear said. “We need to address the poisoned drug crisis and we also have to keep health-care workers safe.”
Gear said some of what she’s seen in the legislature and read in the media has contributed to the politicization of what nurses are dealing with.
“I think there were some stark examples that I believe were politicized,” she said. “It doesn't make them less real, but they were politicized. I do believe that some of the reporting has been sensationalized.”
She said she worries these conversations could further stigmatize those who use substances.
“As much as this has become a problem, it’s not that it’s occurring in every hospital and every hospital room in this province, but it is occurring with increased frequency,” she said. “Nurses support harm reduction but it can’t be at the cost or at the expense of the nurses safety.”
Lack of nuance
BC United has also targeted the B.C. NDP’s decriminalization pilot project, connecting it to drug use at hospitals.
Hamish Telford, a political scientist and professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, said BC United and the Conservative Party of BC have seized on this wedge issue.
“It appears to be working with a wide swath of the public who are concerned about public drug consumption,” he said. “That drug consumption was always happening, but it was much more hidden previously, when drugs were criminalized.”
Telford added that while the parties have been successful in drumming up support, they have also ignored the nuance and complexity leading to why these issues are occurring.
“People are reducing it to very simple propositions,” he said. “Seemingly, if we recriminalize drugs, it will all go away, which of course is not going to happen.”
Eagland said she’d like to see politicians address the root causes that lead people into using substances, such as providing housing and mental health resources.
“The reality is that over 100,000 British Columbians have a substance use disorder and when they see in the media, 'Drug use doesn’t belong in the hospital,' that trust is eroded and people don’t want to seek health care,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Woman shot by B.C. police was Colombian refugee with young daughter, advocate says
Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
Video released of person of interest after cat is allegedly set on fire in Orillia, Ont.
Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.