STAFF at the Werribee Mercy face an alarming number of violent outbursts from patients, says a nurse at the hospital, as pressure mounts on the state government to protect front-line workers.
The nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Weekly that lengthy wait times at the emergency department regularly fuelled aggressive behaviour, including verbal and physical abuse directed at hospital staff.
Violent episodes in the emergency department happened “several times a week”, the nurse said, ranging from low-level abuse to serious physical assaults.
“People have yelled and screamed at me when I’ve been working in triage, displaying really aggressive behaviour.
“It’s because of a mix between long waiting times, where people think they’re being made to wait too long, and patients presenting mental health or drug-related issues.”
The nurse said violence in emergency wards was a problem faced by all hospitals across the state. The comments come after emergency department staff at the Werribee Mercy were confronted by an early morning outburst on March 31 when a man violently trashed the ward.
Six police cars responded when a 21-year-old Werribee man began ripping paintings off walls, smashing hospital equipment and threatening nurses at 9am.
A police spokeswoman said the man, believed to have been on drugs, became agitated in the reception area when nurses told him he couldn’t be treated immediately.
There were almost 6000 ‘code-grey’ security responses to aggressive and threatening behaviour in hospitals in Victoria in the year to August 2011.
The figures have prompted renewed calls for the state government to honour its pre-election promise of creating a specific offence for assaulting hospital staff.
Australian Nursing Federation Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said it was disappointing the government hadn’t started the process of making hospitals safer.
“The Premier received the parliamentary inquiry report into violence in hospitals more than four months ago and that’s too long for a government to do nothing when nurses, midwives and other hospital staff are being seriously injured and threatened,” she said.
