‘They don’t feel safe’: Sask. nurses speak out against increasing violence in hospitals

Allison Bamford reports on the stressful working conditions that nurses face across the country, which include dealing with aggressive behaviour in patients.

Saskatchewan nurses are sharing their stories of violence and threats in the workplace as the problem grows more prevalent in hospitals across the country.

Nurses at Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital say they have been threatened with knives, guns, needles, brass knuckles, machetes and, in one case, an inert hand grenade.

The most recent incident happened Sunday when staff had to seize a shank from a patient, according to the nurses’ union.

“There are threats of violence that happen daily,” said registered nurse Melissa McGillivray, who works at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Violence in the forms of verbal threats, assault and stalking has been a “consistent concern” in health-care facilities across the province for years, according to McGillivray. But recently she has noticed a “significant increase in both the severity and frequency of violence” at her workplace.

“Nobody goes to work to risk their personal safety, and nobody should have to be asked to risk their personal safety,” she told reporters at a press conference held by the Saskatchewan NDP.

“People are crying every single day at work and it’s not right.”

The nurse, along with the official opposition, is calling for an emergency plan to address safety concerns at St. Paul’s, including the installation of a metal detector and increased security staff.

McGillivray said the tipping point for some came late last month when a psychiatric patient brought a sawed-off shot gun and three concealed knives into the emergency.

One nurse described the event in an anonymous letter written to the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses last week.

According to the letter, the patient used a knife to stab a window and threatened to sexually assault and kill one of the hospital staff.

“We have folks that have taken positions elsewhere because they don’t feel safe,” McGillivray said. “I have one coworker who is going on leave because of this (November) event.”

Similar to health care facilities across the county, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says it has seen a rise in violent incidents and weapons in its emergency departments and hospitals.

In a statement to CTV News, the SHA says it is focused on ensuring all its facilities are safe, secure and protected.

It is piloting AI-assisted technology that can detect weapons at another hospital in Saskatoon.

“This pilot will guide future deployment of this technology across urban emergency departments to provide enhanced support to protective services officers,” the SHA said in a statement.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions released survey results this fall that found six in 10 nurses have experienced violence at work over a one-year period.

The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says violence in hospitals has become normalized and as a result incidents are underreported.

SUN president Bryce Boynton encourages nurses to report every incident and press charges in cases of physical violence.

“It’s not part of our job. It’s not welcome in a health care setting. You’re supposed to come here to be safe and to get healing,” Boynton said.

In addition to infrastructure and policies changes, Boynton says there needs to be a cultural shift in the way the public views nurses and safety within hospitals.

Violence in health care is shaped by sexism, he said, and impacts a predominantly female workforce.

“If you point a gun at a cop, you’re going to jail. If you do it at a firefighter, it’s the same thing. But if you do it to a nurse, they ask what we could have done differently to de-escalate the situation and that’s a common occurrence,” Boynton said.

“Why is there a double standard? Why are we not being treated equally as other professionals who are expected to have safety in their workplace?”

According to the SHA, its hospitals are staffed with dedicated protective services officers who are trained to respond to safety concerns and unpredictable situations.