The BC Nursessa国际传媒� Union wants a better balance struck between the needs of patients dealing with addiction and the safety of health care providers.
The issue gained attention after a leaked Northern Health memo instructing staff on how to deal with patients using substances in hospitals despite prohibitions.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 want people with addictions further stigmatized around this,sa国际传媒� BCNU president Adriane Gear said. sa国际传媒淲e need appropriate harm reduction measures and strategies, but we also need to keep people providing the care safe and we can do that. But it does require the employer taking this (issue) seriously and developing appropriate policies, enforcing them and providing appropriate education, resources and support for people.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲e need to work on the safety culture, period. There (are a) lot of things that injure and harm nurses in addition to illicit substance exposures, so let us take this opportunity to critically look at the situation.sa国际传媒�
B.C. United has cited the memo sa国际传媒� which says that sa国际传媒榩atients can use substances while in hospital in their room sa国际传媒� as evidence of government creating sa国际传媒渁 free-for-all with open drug usesa国际传媒� and calling for the end of decriminalization.
Gear confirmed instances of sa国际传媒渋llicit substances being consumed in various care settingssa国际传媒�, but could not describe their extent.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 difficult, but I can tell you that (Vancouver Island) has been a hotbed and WorkSafeBC has been involved. They have done inspections. They have issued orders.sa国际传媒�
RELATED:
The Northern Health memo points to an sa国际传媒渋ncrease in admissions of patients with possession of substances and using substances while in hospitalsa国际传媒�. It tells staff that the decriminalization means they should neither be searching patientssa国际传媒� personal belongings for substances, nor taking them away if found.
sa国际传媒淚 can tell you that anecdotally, we did not hear from our members on this issue prior to decriminalization,sa国际传媒� Gear said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 not saying it never happened, but it certainly wasnsa国际传媒檛 something that wassa国际传媒eported to the extent that it is now.sa国际传媒�
Gear said nurses support harm reduction, but not at the expense of their own personal safetysa国际传媒� and warned of long-term consequences given B.C.sa国际传媒檚 nursing shortage.
sa国际传媒淲e can go ahead and recruit all the nurses we want,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚f we are going to harm them, if we are not going to improve conditions of work, we are not going to retain them.sa国际传媒�
Health Minister Adrian Dix Thursday reiterated that current policies prohibit the possession and use of substances in hospital environments.
sa国际传媒淭hey are unequivocal and that doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean that they are easy to enforce,sa国际传媒� Dix said. sa国际传媒淚s it easy to enforce the rules on Ward Six of Hospital X? Itsa国际传媒檚 not, of course, itsa国际传媒檚 not.sa国际传媒�
Dix said that B.C. is taking every step to ensure nurses and other health professionals do not become police officers.
He pointed out that government has hired 320 sa国际传媒渧ery significantly trainedsa国际传媒� relational security officers in 26 acute care hospitals, adding it is not the sole solution.
sa国际传媒淭his is not an issue of (decriminalization),sa国际传媒� he added. sa国际传媒淭his is an issue of dealing with people in the health-care environment with severe illnesses.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲hen people come to hospital, we do everything we can to help them get better and to keep people safe. That will continue to be our policy every day.sa国际传媒�
