Hospital Campaign Brings Awareness to Workplace Violence

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) has launched a public campaign aimed at bringing awareness to the issue of workplace violence.

Designed internally, and with extensive input from front line staff and Patient Family Advisors, the campaign will acknowledge the workplace violence challenges in the ED, remind the community to act in a respectful manner with health care workers, emphasize that any form of violence will not be tolerated, and show support for ED staff and all health care workers at TBRHSC.

Over the past decade, workplace violence in the health care sector has been increasing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified the issue. A 2017 report by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CNFU) states “the number of violence-related lost-time claims for frontline health care workers has increased by almost 66% over the past decade, three times the rate of increase for police and correctional service officers combined.”

“Health care workers have the right to do their jobs in an environment that is free from violence,” said President and CEO Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott. “Workplace violence can take the form of physical assault, emotional or verbal abuse, racial or sexual harassment, or bullying and can be perpetrated by patients, family members and other visitors, co-workers or superiors. Workplace violence affects both staff and patients while eroding the quality of care and impacting health outcomes.”

The TBRHSC Emergency Department Workplace Violence Prevention Working Group is actively planning, implementing and evaluating strategies for preventing violence, with the goal of making the Emergency Department safe for staff, and in turn, patients and their families. The strategies will be utilized across the organization to further enhance workplace safety and protect everyone who visits our Hospital.

To learn more, follow TBRHSC on social media and visit www.tbrhsc.net.