Addictions nurses at Kingston General Hospital subject to violence: report
Global News
A report by a panel of independent nurses found KHSC's Mental Health and Addictions ward is understaffed and subject to high levels of violence from patients.
The Independent Expert Nursing Panel has published a report on the status of Kingston General Hospital’s mental health and addictions unit.
Angela Preocanin, the Ontario Nurses Association’s Vice President, said staff are overworked and have to consistently deal with violence from patients in the unit.
“They’ve seen some really, really horrible things, and they’ve suffered because of it,” said Preocanin.
The panel says the unit needs immediate attention and change in order to provide proper care and protect the nurses working in the ward.
“The safety of the unit did not allow for them to be able to provide quality patient care,” said Preocanin. “Staffing shortages and the violence on the unit is concerning.”
One of the main points made by the report was to address the staffing shortages through recruitment and retention of nurses.
Kingston Health Sciences Centre says they worked alongside the panel in this report, and will be reviewing the points made while still working on addressing the needs of staff.
“Recruitment and retention of nurses at Kingston Health Sciences Centre has been a challenge. We’re working diligently to recruit, as well as work on retention strategies for our staff,” said Jason Hann, the Chief Nursing Executive at KHSC.
