Brandon emergency room assault highlights growing safety concerns for nurses, union says

A nurse at the hospital in Brandon, Man., was choked and nearly stabbed with a needle by an emergency room patient Monday — a violent incident that reflects a growing wave of abuse and attacks on health-care workers, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.

The alarming attack reflects a troubling trend in violence in emergency departments that has nurses fearing for their safety on the job, says Darlene Jackson,  the union's president.

"It just seems to be escalating, and that is such a worry," Jackson said. "It feels like things are not getting better."

She said nurses often don't file reports on the swearing, threats, punches, spitting or other acts they face daily on the job, which makes it difficult to track the full number of violent and abusive incidents in the province.

That means it takes big incidents like the recent attack at the Brandon emergency department to draw attention to these issues, said Jackson.

Brandon police said Monday that early that morning, they arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with the latest incident. Police say he choked and attempted to stab an emergency room nurse with a needle.

The nurse was able to escape without physical injuries, police said. They believe the man was under the influence of methamphetamine.

He was taken into custody and faces multiple charges, including assault and assault with a weapon. He was released on conditions and will be back in court on May 20.

The assault is being treated as a serious workplace incident, said Treena Slate, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health. The regional health authority is working to provide trauma support for the nurse and witnesses, she said in a statement.

Strengthening security at the hospital is underway as the regional health authority continues to investigate the incident, Slate said.

Growing concerns

A substance use and addictions crisis in the southwestern Manitoba city is increasing the risks service providers face on the job, Brandon police Chief Tyler Bates said. The predominance of meth is making some people unpredictable and aggressive, he said.

The man accused in the Monday hospital assault has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2017, including several assault convictions, a weapons conviction and a conviction for assaulting a police officer, said Bates.

"This isn't the first time he has assaulted a service care provider," he said. "It's certainly somebody that, you know, is a risk to service care providers and a risk to persons of authority and positions of care for vulnerable citizens." 

Bates said he hopes the quick intervention of institutional safety officers — a class of security guard with authority to detain people and enforce provincial laws — at the hospital shows the regional health authority can manage people who are volatile and present a risk.

Prairie Mountain Health says there are four institutional safety officers on shift at the Brandon Hospital, including at least one in the emergency department, along with another security guard at all times.

The regional health authority says it continues to increase guard presence in the emergency department, and additional guards have completed the course to become institutional safety officers.

Nurses' union president Jackson says Brandon and other emergency rooms across the province need more officers to help create safe workplaces. She credits the officers at the Brandon emergency department for helping keep the nurse safe by intervening, restraining and detaining the attacker on Monday.

But she fears without changes in security staffing, incidents will continue to escalate.

"We really need a concerted provincial plan that addresses violence towards front-line health-care workers," Jackson said. "We need to see it quickly because … it's too unsafe, it's too violent."