The BC Nurses’ Union say inadequate staffing levels is the reason a young nurse suffered a violent attack by a mentally ill patient at a Kamloops hospital on December 13.
The nurse, who was alone on the ward at Hillside Centre (Royal Inland Hospital) at the time of the attack, was punched in the face, knocked to the ground and pinned down by a mentally ill patient with a history of violent attacks.
The BCNU says the facility required eight staff members to pull the patient off the young nurse. As the man was being taken to jail in handcuffs, the patient then assaulted an RCMP officer.
“This attack might never have happened had safe staffing levels been in place,” says BCNU Executive Councillor Marg Dhillon. “This nurse is a new grad in her 20’s and she was knowingly put at risk by the Hillside Centre, which has ignored our calls for safe staffing levels.”
Normal or baseline staffing levels for this type of unit is usually three. The BCNU says they’ve repeatedly raised safety concerns with the Kamloops hospital, which according to the union, has been “systematically understaffed.”
The Hillside Centre is a 44-bed psychiatric facility which provides services for patients with severely dysfunctional behaviours.
After the patient’s arrest, his behaviour became so difficult that jail staff requested he be returned to Hillside, which he was, but only after additional staffing was provided.
BCNU’s Thompson North Okanagan Chair, Tracy Quewezance is demanding Interior Health and the Hillside Centre provide safe staffing levels at all times.
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