Vancouver General Hospital nurse strangled by patient, rescued by colleagues: union

The BC Nurses’ Union says it’s outraged after an incident earlier this month in which a nurse was violently attacked while on the job at Vancouver General Hospital.

Union president Adriane Gear says on March 13, the nurse was strangled to the point of unconsciousness.

“It happened in the Segal building at the Vancouver General, which is a building where they have units for inpatient psychiatric patients, and this patient had a known history of violence. Staff had raised concerns. This nurse was not dealing with the patient directly and was not aware that she was becoming a target, and she sustained a very serious assault,” Gear explained.

She says the victim had to be dragged to safety by her colleagues.

Gear says the nurse will be off work while she recovers.

“There’s certainly the physical injury, but the psychological injury is, generally speaking, what takes the longest to overcome, if ever,” said Gear.

The union says it’s asked for security personnel for the psychiatric unit at VGH where this happened but so far hasn’t had that demand met yet.

Gear says safety is a primary factor in the province’s ability to retain nurses.

“This is very distressing, not only for this nurse but also for her colleagues. It’s an assault that should never have happened. And we are learning of, I would say, serious assaults with increased frequency. It’s alarming that health authorities are not heeding these wake-up calls. And how can we expect nurses to to stay in practice when, clearly, nursing is a dangerous job?”

The Ministry of Health tells 1130 NewsRadio it has added new security officers at 30 hospitals across the province and is still looking at where it can expand that program to more facilities.

Vancouver Coastal Health says another patient was also assaulted in the same incident.

“The staff member is recovering at home, while the patient who was assaulted was treated at the hospital,” said a statement from the health authority.

In a statement Tuesday morning, the Vancouver Police Department says it has identified a suspect.

“This incident was reported to VPD on March 16 and is now under investigation,” Sgt. Steve Addison said.