Alberta health care workers claim they're receiving more harassment and violence on the job
Overworked staff, long wait times and a nearly two-year-long pandemic are just some of what an Alberta doctor says is making the existing problem of abuse in hospitals even worse.
“It’s not at all uncommon to have very kind of verbally abusive and sometimes physically abusive patients and families,” said Dr. Paul Parks with the Alberta Medical Association.
He believes those issues are increasing in all areas of any given hospital.
“It’s hard when anybody experiences it, but I think the nurses probably get 10 fold worse,” Parks told CTV News Edmonton.
It’s a problem that is not unique to Alberta.
The Canadian Medical Association says code whites, which are used to alert health care workers of threats of violence, are being called on a regular basis.
In an episode of the association's podcast, it estimates that more than 50 per cent of emergency department nurses will be sexually harassed or assaulted this year.
The CMA also says most ER doctors believe that violence on the job has been going up for several years and is accelerating as the pandemic drags on.
"Everybody's testy, and patients have shorter fuses, families have shorter fuses," said Toronto ER physician Dr. Howard Ovens.
"The people who are responsible for their actions, some competent patients, many family members are acting out, especially around things like visitor restrictions as well as wait times."
In December, the CMA called on the federal government to make abusive behaviour towards medical staff a criminal offence.
The AMA is calling for more resources and better training to deal with dangerous situations.
"We have to be careful because if we don't change the environment, even once this pandemic does eventually end, we might not have any nurses or staff around to care for sick people," Parks said.
In a statement to CTV News last month, AHS said it is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees and volunteers. Workers can receive support through the crisis management team or the Employee and Family Assistance Program.
"We've recently seen an increase in the number of AHS staff accessing our mental health supports and online learning opportunities to support their mental health and well-being," an AHS spokesperson wrote.
"As an organization, we are exploring and always trying to find ways to improve our resources and supports in place to ensure our staff get the right resources to support and promote mental health throughout the pandemic."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Joe Scarpelli
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.