B.C. nurses demand changes to address ‘ridiculous’ workplace violence

Nurses and their supporters march through the streets of downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (CTV News)

Hundreds of nurses and other health-care workers rallied in downtown Vancouver Wednesday afternoon to draw attention to an increase in violence in their workplaces and to demand action from their employers.

“We are here to send a message to government and our health employers that enough is enough,” said Adriane Gear, president of the B.C. Nurses’ Union, which organized the protest.

“The amount of violence that nurses and other health-care workers and patients are exposed to in the health-care system is ridiculous and it needs to stop.”

The BCNU highlighted WorkSafeBC statistics in a news release Wednesday, saying time-loss claims from nurses related to workplace violence had “nearly doubled” since 2014. That year, there were 25 such claims per month, on average. By 2023, the average had risen to 46 per month, according to the BCNU.

“That is simply not acceptable,” Gear told CTV News at the rally, which began outside the Vancouver Art Gallery before marching through the surrounding streets.

The union says the increase in violence is partly attributable to “chronic understaffing” and “inadequate security measures in hospitals and care facilities.”

The BCNU is calling for “additional relational security officers in all facilities,” as well as the continued implementation of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, which the provincial government agreed to in the union’s most recent collective bargaining agreement.

Gear also claimed that existing policies – such as zero tolerance for violence in health-care facilities – are not being adequately enforced, noting employers have a responsibility to keep workers safe.

“The faster we can get to (appropriate) ratios, the better, but there’s also lots of existing policies that need to be enforced now,” she said.

The BCNU said more than 500 nurses and “allied health-care workers” took part in the lunchtime rally.