The BC Nurses乌鸦传媒� 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.
乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 want people with addictions further stigmatized around this,乌鸦传媒� BCNU president Adriane Gear said. 乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�
B.C. United has cited the memo 乌鸦传媒� which says that 乌鸦传媒榩atients can use substances while in hospital in their room 乌鸦传媒� as evidence of government creating 乌鸦传媒渁 free-for-all with open drug use乌鸦传媒� and calling for the end of decriminalization.
Gear confirmed instances of 乌鸦传媒渋llicit substances being consumed in various care settings乌鸦传媒�, but could not describe their extent.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 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.乌鸦传媒�
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The Northern Health memo points to an 乌鸦传媒渋ncrease in admissions of patients with possession of substances and using substances while in hospital乌鸦传媒�. It tells staff that the decriminalization means they should neither be searching patients乌鸦传媒� personal belongings for substances, nor taking them away if found.
乌鸦传媒淚 can tell you that anecdotally, we did not hear from our members on this issue prior to decriminalization,乌鸦传媒� Gear said. 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 not saying it never happened, but it certainly wasn乌鸦传媒檛 something that was乌鸦传媒eported to the extent that it is now.乌鸦传媒�
Gear said nurses support harm reduction, but not at the expense of their own personal safety乌鸦传媒� and warned of long-term consequences given B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 nursing shortage.
乌鸦传媒淲e can go ahead and recruit all the nurses we want,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚f we are going to harm them, if we are not going to improve conditions of work, we are not going to retain them.乌鸦传媒�
Health Minister Adrian Dix Thursday reiterated that current policies prohibit the possession and use of substances in hospital environments.
乌鸦传媒淭hey are unequivocal and that doesn乌鸦传媒檛 mean that they are easy to enforce,乌鸦传媒� Dix said. 乌鸦传媒淚s it easy to enforce the rules on Ward Six of Hospital X? It乌鸦传媒檚 not, of course, it乌鸦传媒檚 not.乌鸦传媒�
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 乌鸦传媒渧ery significantly trained乌鸦传媒� relational security officers in 26 acute care hospitals, adding it is not the sole solution.
乌鸦传媒淭his is not an issue of (decriminalization),乌鸦传媒� he added. 乌鸦传媒淭his is an issue of dealing with people in the health-care environment with severe illnesses.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�
