Nurse, unit assistant assaulted at Health Sciences Centre

A violent incident at Health Sciences Centre is under investigation. CTV’s Taylor Brock reports.

Two people working at Manitoba’s largest hospital were attacked by a patient on Sunday.

A Shared Health spokesperson confirmed a nurse and unit assistant in the Adult Emergency Department at Health Sciences Centre were assaulted by a patient receiving mental health care.

The spokesperson didn’t provide details of the incident but said neither staff member was seriously physically hurt.

“We are ensuring both have access to the support and resources they may need as they recover from this distressing experience.”

The spokesperson added all appropriate safety protocols were followed, and that Shared Health recognizes that “any act of violence in the workplace is deeply concerning.”

However, the head of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) is questioning why the nurse and unit assistant were there in the first place.

“Why is a nurse being a sitter to the patient? That’s why we have security guards. That’s why we have ISOs [institutional safety officers],” Darlene Jackson, MNU’s president, told CTV News in an interview earlier this week. “That’s why we have a classification called ‘qualified persons’. Those are individuals who are able to take over care of a psychiatric patient and look after them.”

Jackson said violent incidents continue to be a workplace safety issue for nurses and other frontline healthcare workers.

“I’m really not surprised we are finding more and more violence happening on those psychiatric units. And so it’s not surprising to me if this did happen,” Jackson said.

In August, Manitoba nurses ‘grey-listed’ Health Sciences Centre and deemed it is an unsafe working environment.

“We’ve given them a list of recommendations that could provide some solutions to how we handle violence at Health Sciences Centre, and we’ve seen no action from this government,” Jackson said. So it’s concerning. It’s almost as if there’s absolutely no will to protect staff.”

Doctors Manitoba echoed the union’s concerns shortly after – releasing data showing almost half of all physical safety incidents among physicians last year took place at HSC.

In an email, the Winnipeg Police Service said it was made aware of the incident and “are working to obtain the totality of the circumstances that occurred.”