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An unprovoked, possibly meth-related assault on a nurse at Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital Friday night is far from an isolated incident, says the nurses’ union.

The Manitoba Nurses Union told 680CJOB that a nurse was punched in the face Friday, and they believe the man who punched her was high on methamphetamine.

According to statistics from the union, the number of patients high on meth admitted to emergency rooms has increased by 1,200 per cent since 2013, which they say has resulted in a dangerous working environment for people in the medical field.

“What they’re seeing is patients that are coming in high on methamphetamine, they may be in a meth-induced psychosis, which means they are generally quite paranoid and have very high anxiety levels,” union president Darlene Jackson said.

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“They’re also very erratic, with unexpected behaviour. They can become very aggressive, which means you can’t really anticipate the type of behaviours they’re going to display.

“It’s often unprovoked, it is sudden, and we’ve been saying for a long time that we need security in those emergency rooms that have peace officer status that can restrain and detain. What we’re seeing is if there is security, they do not have peace officer status and are unable to be hands-on with the patient.” Tweet This

Jackson said in many hospitals, a nurse fills out a form called an RL6 whenever there’s a violent incident. The form documents what happened, who was involved, and what the outcome was. Across the province, she said, the number of incident reports filed has increased dramatically.

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Winnipeg police say they have seen the number of people using meth and other drugs rise in crimes across the city.

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“Hospitals are going to see an increase in violence,” Const. Tammy Skrabek said. Tweet This

“This is a much larger issue. I think all together on all the different scales we all have a part to play in attempting to control it, from a police angle we need to find the people who are dealing it, we need to reduce the amount of drugs that are out there.”

At Health Sciences Centre, the number of RL6 forms received in 2018 has already doubled the numbers from all of 2017. At the Grace Hospital, the union’s statistics report that the number of ‘code white’ reports of violence has increased considerably as well, with violent reports sometimes taking place multiple times per day.

Medical staff in Winnipeg aren’t alone when it comes to this problem. At Brandon Regional Hospital, the number of incident reports is on pace for an increase over last year as well.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) addressed the concerns in a statement, saying a security program is in place to ensure violence is reduced in healthcare facilities.

“All hospitals have on-site security and security guards have the capacity and ability to intervene in a situation with a potentially violent person if they pose a threat to themselves, the staff or the patients in our care,” the WRHA said in the statement.

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“Additionally, the WRHA has implemented the Provincial Healthcare Violence Prevention program, which was developed in collaboration with the Manitoba Nurses Union. The Provincial Healthcare Violence Prevention Program is designed to ensure that every reasonable effort will be made to mitigate, eliminate or reduce all forms of violence in workplaces where healthcare services are provided.”

Month / Year “Meth” Visit Count Apr 2013 12 May 2013 20 Jun 2013 16 Jul 2013 13 Aug 2013 16 Sep 2013 11 Oct 2013 8 Nov 2013 25 Dec 2013 16 Jan 2014 21 Feb 2014 14 Mar 2014 19 Apr 2014 9 May 2014 31 Jun 2014 41 Jul 2014 28 Aug 2014 45 Sep 2014 27 Oct 2014 31 Nov 2014 34 Dec 2014 31 Jan 2015 29 Feb 2015 20 Mar 2015 32 Apr 2015 44 May 2015 46 Jun 2015 57 Jul 2015 48 Aug 2015 60 Sep 2015 56 Oct 2015 65 Nov 2015 64 Dec 2015 54 Jan 2016 50 Feb 2016 66 Mar 2016 68 Apr 2016 76 May 2016 93 Jun 2016 95 Jul 2016 112 Aug 2016 91 Sep 2016 116 Oct 2016 122 Nov 2016 90 Dec 2016 111 Jan 2017 124 Feb 2017 128 Mar 2017 159 Apr 2017 154 May 2017 149 Jun 2017 183 Jul 2017 177 Aug 2017 164 Sep 2017 170 Oct 2017 180 Nov 2017 168 Dec 2017 187 Jan 2018 199 Feb 2018 160 Mar 2018 187 Apr 2018 218 May 2018 212 Jun 2018 235 Jul 2018 241

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