Safety Ambassadors at ER

Ambassador Program at KGH does not protect nurses and their patients 24/7.

Although programs such as that recently profiled in your article of June 25, 2017 “Safety Ambassadors at ER” are needed and can be part of effective security measures in many health care facilities, it will likely not meet the urgent safety needs at KGH ER. The program will not provide the ER with dedicated security 24/7 and most worrying leaves staff and patients without security during the late night hours after midnight, when risk factors can be high. Nursing staff at KGH have been experiencing violent incidents repeatedly over many months and more needs to be done, starting with the immediate provision of properly trained security 24/7.

In our province, according to WorkSafeBC’s 2015 annual report, the overall injury rate due to workplace violence has increased over 50 percent since 2006. During the past decade, nurses had more than 40 per cent of all injuries as a result of violence in the workplace and the impact of this violence has been far-reaching, affecting not just the nurses, who often never return to work, but their families, co-workers, the employer and the community.

The public understands that violence is not part of a nurse’s job and employers need to ensure that is the case. Nurses shouldn’t have to worry if they will return safely to their families at the end of their shift. Those visiting the KGH ER for care and attention including vulnerable elders, children and the very sick, need to know they and their care providers are safe, not just until midnight, but 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Things need to change immediately to protect nursing staff that are there to help and heal, yet are put at risk as well as anyone else entering this facility. Tell Interior Health that you support nurses’ call for trained security 24/7 for KGH ER.

Rhonda Croft
Okanagan Similkameen Regional Chair
BC Nurses' Union