'A wake-up call': Union voices safety concerns after student nurse stabbed at Vancouver hospital
CTV
The BC Nurses Union is calling for change after a student nurse was stabbed by a patient at Vancouver General Hospital Thursday.
The BC Nurses Union is calling for change after a student nurse was stabbed by a patient at Vancouver General Hospital Thursday.
BCNU president Adriane Gear told CTV News the latest incident – in which the victim was stabbed with a pocket knife – is the latest example of a concerning trend the union is seeing across the province.
"Nurses, every day in this province, experience aggression and violence," Gear said. "That could be uttering threats, that could be pinching, biting, hitting. We are seeing, with more frequency, weapons in the workplace. So that, certainly, is becoming a concern."
The Vancouver Police Department said it was called to VGH around 9 a.m. Thursday after an assault inside the facility.
Officers arrested a 48-year-old man, but released him into "the secure care of the hospital" because he needed further medical and psychiatric care, the VPD said in a statement.
Police said they will be forwarding a report to Crown counsel with charge recommendations, and added that the victim's injuries were not life-threatening.
Gear also said the student nurse would be OK, physically, but expressed concern about what effect the experience could have on her or other students thinking about entering the profession.
