Seattle Children’s nurses say they’re in ‘constant state of fear’ over daily violent incidents
Nov 29, 2023, 1:59 PM
(KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
Nurses at Seattle Children’s Hospital are sounding the alarm over what they’re describing as a “constant state of fear” within the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit.
According to the Washington State Nurses Association, police have been called to the unit twice over the last two weeks over violent incidents involving patients. In one of those incidents in early November, patients “turned over carts, used a pole to swing at people, broke windows, and held a nurse in a chokehold,” the WSNA said in a news release.
“Almost simultaneously in a different part of the unit, a nurse was isolated with another patient and was choked, struck in the head 16 times, and nearly lost consciousness,” nurses described.
A week and a half after that, police had to return after patients were reportedly throwing ceiling tiles at staff members.
Nurses working in the unit claim that incidents like these are common occurrences, and that they’re experiencing “a pattern of ongoing and escalating violence … on a daily basis.”
Those concerns were detailed in a letter from nurses to the hospital’s management in mid-November.
“Staff work in a persistent state of fear as they come into each shift expecting violence and debilitating abuse,” the letter reads, in part. “Patient care has been compromised to an extent that our milieu is no longer therapeutic, but rather dangerous and detrimental for all who enter the PBMU, staff and patients alike. The unfortunate reality of the unit is an exponentially increasing risk of a sentinel event if the PBMU is left to continue operating under its current conditions.”
A “sentinel event” typically entails an incident with a patient that results in either death or serious harm.
A Seattle Children’s spokesperson issued the following response regarding the nurses’ concerns:
“Our country is facing an escalating youth mental and behavioral health crisis and the demand for services remains alarmingly high. The safety, security and well-being of Seattle Children’s patients and workforce is our top priority and we have intensified efforts over the past several months to address this demand. Last month, we opened an Emergency Operations Center in response to the mental health crisis, to streamline communication and decision-making and immediately address concerns. Seattle Children’s has brought in additional staffing resources and increased both leader and security presence on the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit (PBMU). The team is also actively seeking travel nurses to provide supplemental staffing and patient care.
While these critical steps support the immediate safety of our workforce and patients, Seattle Children’s cannot solve this crisis alone. This work is ongoing, and we are actively collaborating with external partners at the local, state, and federal level to identify and eliminate barriers and find rapid solutions to address the extremely high number of patients seeking care for mental and behavioral health crises across the state. Greater investment in youth mental health is critical to build a pediatric mental health system that encompasses upstream prevention to the highest acuity and complexity to meet the needs of Washington’s youth.”
