Hospital security lacking

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 7

Hospital security lacking

Security arrangements in hospitals are thought to be inadequate by more than a quarter of members of the Nurses’ Association, a study has found.

An article in the latest “Nursing Journal” gives details of the study, conducted by the association to find nurses' views on occupational health and safety. In response to a question about security arrangements, 29 of the 67 participants in the survey said they did not think security arrangements were adequate.

Ms Patricia French, a nurse adviser with the association, said that when figures were applied to the 25,000 association

members, and calculations were made to allow for the margins of error from a small sampld size, between 26 and 64 per cent considered the security arrangements to be inadequate. More than one-third said that lighting in carparks used by nurses was inadequate and more than a quarter said that too few car-parks were provided for staff on afternoon and evening shifts.

Forty-two of the 67 survey participants said they feared attack or had been attacked in a hospital carpark and 30 said they feared or had been involved in a drug-related attack. When asked what specific measures should be taken to improve

security, nurses said they wanted better lighting in car-parks, closer carparking facilities, better policing of hospital entrances and exits, more security guards, adequate locks on doors, and windows that allowed ventilation but not access.

More than half the survey participants said that they knew someone who had left nursing because of a work-related injury, infection, or accident. In most cases, the injury that caused the person to leave was a back injury; and 44 participants rated back injuries as one of the five main occupational health problems for nurses.

Infections, fatigue, the stress of shiftwork, and

poorly designed equipment were also cited by nurses as being among the five main problems. Suggested solutions included better equipment available for lifting, “hilow” beds for all wards, more education on lifting, staff inoculations for hepatitis B, sufficient staff, and better planned rosters.

All survey participants said that nurses had a right to a healthy and safe environment and most felt it was the responsibility of the employer to provide it.

Ms French said it was vital that the responses to the survey be considered seriously and discussed by members “with a view to actioning the necessary changes."