'We are seeing violence almost every shift': Healthcare workers seeing uptick in abuse from patients
Frustration is increasing among people seeking treatment in hospital, and front line healthcare workers are taking the brunt of it.
Nurses and doctors in the province are seeing an increase in violence and abuse from patients, and a recent survey shows the increase is believed to be related to the pandemic.
At a COVID-19 news conference on Friday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon spoke about the increase in violent incidents.
“We want our healthcare workers, our nursing staff, our physicians to feel safe when they come to work, and as they move throughout the community,” said Gordon.
The Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) said abusive incidents are becoming more commonplace for its members.
MNU President Darlene Jackson said nurses feel they are more of a target for abuse than in pervious years.
“We’re seeing nurses that are being yelled at, that are being insulted, that are being spit at,” said Jackson.
“We are seeing violence almost every shift, every day.”
Jackson said she started seeing frustration from the public when the province began restructuring the healthcare system, and the pandemic has only increased those frustrations.
In December, a survey conducted by Doctors Manitoba revealed a high rate of mistreatment among physicians as well.
The survey showed 57 per cent of doctors experienced incidents of mistreatment over the past month, 52 per cent of incidents appeared to be linked to the pandemic in some way, and 59 per cent of physicians said incidents are happening more frequently.
The NDP Critic for Health, Uzoma Asagwara, said these incidents are unacceptable, and everyone has a right to feel safe in the workplace.
“We also have to recognize that this government has created conditions in our healthcare system that put incredible strain, not only on healthcare workers, but on people accessing healthcare.”
Asagwara said the province needs to address the conditions they created in the healthcare system.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) said acts of violence are inexcusable.
A spokesperson for the WRHA said in part:
“We ask the public to please continue to treat healthcare providers and front-line staff with respect, especially during these difficult times. They are dealing with the challenges of working short-staffed, being redeployed to new areas, as well as managing the risk of contracting COVID-19 themselves. Despite these circumstances they continue to go above and beyond to keep our community safe and healthy.”
Moving forward, the MNU would like to see security in hospitals that can restrain and retain if needed, and would like to meet with Minister Gordon to address this growing issue of abuse.
Gordon said she’s open to discussing solutions.
“It’s never acceptable to lash out, threaten a healthcare worker, protest outside of our hospitals, and block patients from accessing care,” said Gordon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Police will not be charged in death of Indigenous man in B.C., mother says
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021, according to the man's mother.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.