3 November 2021
A Port Lincoln nurse has been attacked in the same hospital ward that was the scene of a brutal nurse bashing two years ago.
Just two days later, the entire Port Lincoln SAPOL on-duty force, six police officers, had to restrain a man who punched a doctor in the emergency department and attempted to bite and spit on other staff.
Despite widespread media coverage after a potentially fatal 2019 attack, with that nurse still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and despite a surge in attacks on staff since, Port Lincoln Hospital continues to refuse to install security guards.
The latest attack on a nurse occurred on October 13, after 25 ‘Code Black’ incidents in a three-month period in the second half of this year. A Code Black is called when patients become aggressive or violent. In this case a violent patient jumped off his ward bed and attacked the nurse, attempting to bite her.
The emergency department police incident occurred on October 15. Four SAPOL officers had brought in a violent patient and were forced to call another two officers for back-up when the enraged man started lashing out at staff.
As of early September this year 91 Code Blacks had been called at Port Lincoln Hospital since 2016, with incidences tripling in the past two years. “Despite the ongoing danger and threats to staff, there is no safe room in Eyre Ward B, the site of the attack, for staff to retreat to when confronted with violence,’’ Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch) CEO/Secretary Adj Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM said.
The latest assaults were just two of an alarming 10 Code Black incidents in October alone.
“There are certainly no restraint-trained security guards," Ms Dabars said.
“Members have been reporting to the ANMF (SA Branch) that they are scared to come to work.
“We believe the Eyre and Far North Local Health Network (EFNLHN), which runs the Port Lincoln Hospital, has failed in its duty of care under the Work, Health and Safety Act 2012 by not taking action to put in place measures to protect staff from violent patients.’’
In August 2019, a Port Lincoln registered nurse was attacked and repeatedly punched by a teenage boxer and suffered severe bruising, neck sprain and whiplash, facial scarring, intermittent pain, headaches, concussion, nausea from pinched nerves and post-traumatic stress disorder. "If one punch landed slightly in a different spot on my skull, I would not be alive today, I'm certain of that," the nurse said in her victim impact statement.
Ms Dabars noted that in June this year the Whyalla and Port Augusta hospitals committed to 24/7 on-site security guards after a staggering 22 assaults against nurses in little over a month.
“That commitment has led to a dramatic de-escalation in violence, with staff saying they feel far more secure at work,’’ she said.
“It beggars belief that Port Lincoln Hospital continues to send staff into an unsafe working environment, particular after a nurse was almost killed in one of their wards.
“We continue to call for the implementation of 24/7 on-site restraint-trained security guards as a matter of urgency and as a potential matter of life and death,’’ Ms Dabars said.
“To describe it as such is not an overdramatisation, given that just one punch can kill, let alone a boxer throwing repeated punches.’’