Union seizes on viral video of violent patient to renew security calls

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union has called for better working conditions and increased health funding, days after the Queensland government celebrated additional frontline staff, and a video of a nurse taking down an aggressive patient went viral.

Of 8000 QNMU members recently surveyed, 82 per cent reported experiencing violence at work. Exposure to racism had also increased since their last survey.

Kat, a senior nurse who spoke to the media outside the QNMU annual conference but asked for her surname not to be used, said she was punched in the face by a patient about a year ago.

Initially, she thought her jaw was broken, and she was left with a large, almost black, bruise for some time afterwards.

Working in the emergency department, Kat said she constantly witnessed violence against her staff.

“It’s devastating. Every time I go to employment, the possibility of one of my staff members getting assaulted is quite high,” she said.

The union said staff often blamed themselves, or worried they had initiated the incident.

“I can tell you, in my case, I did not [initiate it],” Kat said. “I experienced that flight or fight. Because I’m quite stubborn, I fought.”

At the press conference, every member of the QNMU Council raised a hand when asked if they had experienced violence at work.

Union secretary Sarah Beaman said Kat’s experience was a good example of nurses and midwives putting others first.

“No nurse or midwife should ever be put in a position that they are punched in the jaw or feel a sense of obligation to come back and continue to provide care,” she said.

“I think it’s incredible that we have nurses and midwives and carers that do this. But the focus for governments should not be on having amazingly resilient nurses and midwives; it should be on ensuring there are programs in place to prevent this from ever occurring.”

On Monday, Health Minister Tim Nicholls released figures showing 10,000 new health workers had been hired since the LNP was elected, including 7200 frontline doctors, nurses and allied health workers.

But Beaman said that while frontline numbers were increasing, staff were burning out.

“We are holding the government to account on their commitment to 18,700 more nurses and midwives by 2032, [but] we have to retain every nurse, midwife and carer we have,” she said.

The QNMU urged the state government to put extra funding into the “highly successful” ambassador model, which uses specially trained, non-traditional security and support staff to de-escalate aggressive behaviour.

“In the budget before last, it was expanded in number by about 10 by the LNP government,” Beaman said.

“However, this year there has been no additional funding and no further rollout, and the budget itself has very limited additional funding in relation to occupational violence prevention, which is deeply concerning.

“There is some money there for security, but it’s a bit like the workforce recruitment plans, and the retention plans – there are words on paper, but there are no specifics to match this policy.”

In the video showing the 2024 attack on nurse Daniel Nelson at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, which was only recently shared on Facebook, it took almost a full minute for help to arrive.

Beaman commended security guards at Queensland hospitals, but said there were not enough of them.

“Every time a security guard is called to a particular area of concern, it means they’re taken away from another area,” she said.

“This is why we need better intervention in that space, and we need more staff, not just formal security but other models … like the ambassador model.”

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