Some Hartford HealthCare facilities will see armed guards next year after workers spoke out about acts of violence against them from both patients and visitors.
Back in September, union members with CHCA District 199 who work at the Hospital of Central Connecticut's Bradley Memorial Campus in Southington spoke out about clashes with patients that turned physical, and pointed to the lack of trained guards, security cameras and lighting in the building and parking lot.
A spokesperson for the union said members commend Hartford HealthCare’s decision to add armed guards to the Southington campus and several others across the state.
“These actions come after incidents at the hospital left staff feeling vulnerable, and our collective voice has made an impact. CHCA members remain committed to serving our community with confidence in a safer and more effective environment,” a spokesperson said.
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Hartford HealthCare said in a statement, “We consistently evaluate our safety protocols - and made the decision to move forward with armed guards long before negotiations. Back in June, after a considerable assessment over the past several years, we began the process to add armed officers to supplement our already comprehensive safety and security strategy.”
Danielle Berriault, a registered nurse and vice president of the Backus Federation of Nurses, said violence in the healthcare industry sadly is all too common.
“Every single bedside nurse, if you asked them about workplace violence…one of the main points that they would bring up is, 'oh, well, when I go into a patient's room, I make sure not to wear my stethoscope around my neck because we don't want it to be used to choke us, essentially,'” Berriault said. “That is the nature and reality of working in healthcare today.”
Berriault said the Backus Federation of Nurses is pushing for safer staffing levels to help with the issues.
“Our union has been raising the alarm at the local and at the national level in terms of safe patient limits and safe staffing,” she said. “I mean, you hear it said time and time again, there’s safety in numbers and that's true.”
The union is in active negotiations with Hartford HealthCare.
“Violence is violence, and it's certainly something that we have to be mindful of every single day, every single minute, to be aware of our surroundings, to be in the moment, to keep ourselves, to keep our patients and to keep our peers safe. And when you don't have that safety in numbers when you don't have enough staff to go around, it puts you in a dangerous situation for sure,” Berriault said.
