WINDSOR – Far too often, Registered Nurses (RNs) and front-line
health-care professionals experience violent attacks at the hands of patients
and their families. Now, RNs working in Windsor-Essex are launching a new public
awareness campaign to highlight the risk of workplace violence in health
care.
Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 8 members have developed four new
commercials highlighting the issue with a view to ending this serious problem.
ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN, has praise for the local nurses and their
campaign.
“RNs are caregivers,” she said, “and we go to work each day to help their
patients heal, not to be beaten and assaulted. These commercials are powerful
and will help people understand the very real risk to RNs and health-care
professionals – and consequently, to patients – with a view to
prevention.”
Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj has also expressed support for
the campaign. “Believing that violence against RNs and health-care professionals
doesn’t exist won’t help eradicate the attacks,” he said. “The only way we will
end workplace violence in health care is to take the necessary steps –
proactively – to prevent it. It cannot be stressed enough that when our care
providers are at risk, our patients also suffer…I commend ONA and our nurses for
their efforts to keep this issue top of mind.”
Making health-care safe entails training, safety planning, having strong
policies in place and identifying risks to patients and staff, notes Hotel-Dieu
Grace Hospital CEO Janice Kaffer. “All of that, though, won’t be enough unless
people feel they can come forward when violence happens and be heard without
judgement or retribution.” Kaffer supports the ONA Local 8 campaign, and has
committed, “as a Registered Nurse and the CEO of HDGH that our hospital will be
safe from violence and from all fear of reporting it.”
The first in a series of four ads will begin airing in the Windsor-Essex
region today. They can also be viewed at https://youtu.be/GjM5_BiFWP8
ONA is the union representing 65,000 registered nurses and health-care
professionals, as well as 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in
hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and
industry.
