The Ontario Nurses Association is calling for changes after two nurses were beaten by a patient in an Ontario mental health facility Dec. 16.
A registered practical nurse was knocked unconscious when she was thrown against a wall, and a registered nurse was struck several times in the head when a 22-year-old patient became violent at the West 5th Campus of St. Joseph’s Healthcare.
Both nurses suffered concussions and were taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital on Charlton Avenue East for emergency treatment. They were released later in the day, according to thespec.com.
The incident is the latest in a series of violent encounters between nurses and patients, which has caused some to criticize St. Joseph’s and call for improved hospital security measures.
“It has taken [St. Joe’s] 18 months of back-and-forth arguing for them to come to some conclusions,” said Provincial President of the Ontario Nurses Union Linda Haslam-Stroud.
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The patient initially fled the scene of the attack but was later taken into custody by hospital security. A Code Blue and a Code White were issued at the hospital to alert staff members of an aggressive incident and cardiac arrest.
There have been 129 reports of assaults on nurses since January of this year. The Ontario Nurses Union is concerned that hospital safety will decline as $26 million in budget cuts are expected by March 31, 2017.
