Nurses protest rising workplace violence

Nurses in Ontario have begun a public campaign to stop workplace violence after enduring years of assaults that frequently go unreported and unpunished.

The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) states that health-care workers regularly experience kicks, punches, bites, and stabbings. These injuries would prompt immediate support for other first responders but are often ignored when they involve nurses.

A rare case drew attention when a man who repeatedly attacked nurses at Peterborough Regional Health Centre was deemed unfit to stand trial. One nurse suffered a punch to the face and head from a patient, then received treatment in the emergency department after her night shift ended. Most assaults do not result in criminal charges.

Policies don’t protect nurses

Employers cite zero-tolerance policies as evidence of their commitment to safety. Nurses counter that these policies mean little when they are expected to continue working after an assault.

A long-time emergency department nurse has lost count of how many times she has been attacked on the job. Broken bones, kicks, and punches were unavoidable despite training, she explains. The culture of blame is so pervasive that most incidents remain unreported.

Nurses frequently face questions about what they could have done to prevent an assault, a query rarely directed at police officers or paramedics after violent incidents. When other first responders are attacked, they receive immediate relief and support. Nurses, most of whom are women, are instructed to keep working.

The difference in treatment is not only unfair but also contributes to nurses leaving the profession. For every two new nurses hired, one departs, often citing violence, exhaustion, and unsafe staffing as reasons. The turnover endangers the stability of Ontario’s health-care system, where understaffing already forces nurses to work short-handed, raising the risk of violence.

A call for public support

The ONA’s new campaign, “Code Black and Blue,” highlights nurses discussing the reality of their work: arriving for shifts knowing they might be assaulted and facing blame afterward. The union is asking Ontarians to push employers and the government to adopt safe staffing ratios, which they believe would reduce both violence and exhaustion.

Safe staffing involves more than numbers. It provides nurses with the time and resources to calm tense situations before they escalate. Currently, many say they are too overworked to do more than react, and even then, they bear the responsibility when things go wrong.

If employers and governments do not listen to their nurses, perhaps