Hundreds of nurses gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Thursday to protest their exclusion from new labour laws relating to worker mental health.
The province unveiled new legislation last month, which would make Post Trauamtic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disroders “presumptive conditions” linked to specific first responders’ jobs.
That provision means paramedics, firefighters, police officers, sheriffs and correctional officers would not longer have to prove that they developed the condition while on the job in order to get care and coverage.
Nurses, however, were not included in the legislation — something B.C. Nurses’ Union President Christine Sorensen said is unacceptable.
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Sorensen said she has spoken to Bains, who suggested nurses could be included at a future date, but said that they can’t wait for that.
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She pointed to ongoing violence that nurses are facing in the workplace as a key reason why.
“We continue to see about 26 nurses every month reporting to WorkSafe serious injuries related to violence in the workplace. And that’s just not acceptable anymore,” Sorensen said.
READ MORE: Programs in place to help B.C.’s first responders manage PTSD in wake of opioid crisis
She said virtually every nurse has experienced violence on the job, whether they work in acute care, in the community or in residential care.
And she said more often than not, they go right on working — putting them at higher risk for mental health issues.
“They often go home, cry, cry a lot, and then because they’re concerned about their colleagues and their patients, they often return to work,” she said.
“And they’re still suffering the trauma of the violence they’ve experienced.”
About 500 nurses are in Vancouver right now for the BCNU’s annual convention.
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