Abbotsford (Star FM) – Health care workers at four sites, including Abbotsford Regional Hospital, will hopefully feel a bit safer on the job thanks to $2 million in provincial funding for violence prevention initiatives.
The BC Nurses Union has been putting out the call for increased safety for well over a year, and president Gayle Duteil says she’s pleased at the response from the ministry of health.
“For too long the risk of violence has simply been seen as part of the work that nurses do, part of the job. The problem is this acceptance means we don’t do everything in our power to minimize the risk. And that’s just what we have to do.”
Upgrades at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital will include:
-Upgrading communication systems and panic buttons, ensuring staff have reliable access to help when they need it.
-Upgrading and adding security cameras in interview and triage areas, to further assist staff in acting quickly in case of violence or aggression.
-Enhancing access to seclusion room space to more appropriately care for patients that are aggressive, at risk of self-harm or at risk of elopement.
The other three priority sites are the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam, Hillside Centre in Kamloops, Seven Oaks Tertiary Mental Health in Victoria.
