Violent assault of Metro Vancouver nurse prompts calls to improve workplace safety for health-care workers

New Westminster, B.C. -

There are calls to improve security in the workplace for front-line health-care workers following a violent assault last week on a nurse in New Westminster, B.C.

It happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 1 in the triage area of the emergency department at Royal Columbian Hospital.

CTV News Vancouver spoke to the victim, who does not want to speak publicly. She said she went to talk with a man who was demanding to be let in to the main part of the emergency room. She said he hit her repeatedly with his backpack, in the head and on the back as she crouched down, leaving her bruised and her glasses broken.

She said she did not see security in the immediate vicinity when the assault took place.

New Westminster police told CTV News Vancouver on Monday they would not be giving interviews about this case, but confirmed officers attended the hospital in response to a call about an assault in progress.

Police said it appears to have been an unprovoked assault on a nurse, and that officers arrested a man who they said was not a patient at the hospital. Police are planning on recommending charges in connection with the attack.

B.C. Nurses Union interim vice-president Danette Thomsen said the union is aware of the assault, and said it was “deeply troubled by this gruesome and unprovoked attack.”

She added it’s a problem the union has been the raising the alarm about for years.

“Forty per cent of all injury claims to WorkSafeBC from nurses are due to violence,” she said. “It is time this issue was addressed.”

Thomsen said the union would like to see dedicated security guards for ERs across the province, and more widespread use of protective security officers specially trained in de-escalation. She also called for the standardization of personal alarms and code white protocols, along with changes to the law.

“We need legislative changes to actually penalize anybody who’s harming health-care workers,” she said. “I just would like the public to know if nurses aren’t safe, the patients aren’t safe, that patients can harm patients as well as nurses.”

Two private members' bills have gone to Ottawa in recent years, which called for attacks on health-care workers to be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing, but neither moved ahead.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday she was "very, very distressed" to hear news of the attack.

"It's not, unfortunately, something new in our system," she said.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said there is "ongoing work" involving health-care workers' unions and others to increase safety and security in health-care settings.

"It's a high priority for us, it continues to be," Dix said, and added it's work that has been going on for years. "This indicates the need to continue to improve the situation, and we fully intend to do that."

Dix said this a very challenging time in health care, and workers should be supported.

"When we hear stories like this, it obviously affects both the morale and the sense of personal security of our staff across the system," he said. "We're with them, and we're going continue to work to improve security, which may involve in different places, different actions."

CTV News Vancouver has also reached out to the Fraser Health Authority regarding the assault.