Nurse viciously attacked by patient at Eagle Ridge Hospital

A violent attack on a nurse at Eagle Ridge Hospital could have been prevented, or at least mitigated, had Fraser Health provided safe staffing levels and responded to safety concerns, says BC Nurses' Union President Debra McPherson.

The incident happened when the nurse tried to rescue an elderly dementia patient from falling off a second floor balcony. The nurse called for a code white when the man, who is known to be violent, started climbing over the wall. But the paging system hadn't worked properly for several months and the emergency response team didn't know where to go.

On her own, the nurse pulled the patient back to safety, but in the process was head butted and elbowed. He then picked up a large rock from the balcony garden and hit her on the head.

The nurse went to Emergency where she received stitches and is now recovering at home from cuts and bruises. It took Fraser Health three more days to fix the paging system.

"This is the kind of callous disregard Fraser Health has for nurses who face violence every day in the course of trying to do their jobs," says BCNU President Debra McPherson.

"This nurse - at great personal risk - saved this man's life, but was then subjected to a vicious attack because the code white announcement was muffled, so they didn't know where she was."

McPherson says the incident points to another problem: violent dementia patients are put in wards without adequate, trained staff who know how to deal with them. "This patient was unsafe on that unit, a medical unit not staffed for patients with dementia, confusion, aggression and violent tendencies. In this case, had the patient pulled the nurse over with him, they both could have suffered serious injury or even death in the fall."

Today marks National Day of Mourning to draw attention to workers who are killed or injured on the job.