09-16-2012, 03:42 PM
Nurses ask for more help at Oregon State Hospital
Nurses and union representatives are asking lawmakers for more help caring for the mentally ill at both the Salem and Portland campuses of the Oregon State Hospital.
Violence at the hospital has reached unacceptable levels, hospital staffers tell The Statesman Journal They attribute the problem to having too few staff to take care of the patients.
Data from the hospital shows that in 2012, 66 patients and staff have been injured by hospital patients, as of the end of July. Fifty of those injuries were inflicted on staff.
Nurse Faith Faddis, who has worked for the hospital in Portland for five years, said one major problem is having too few trained staff to cover violent incidents or emergencies. During an emergency, nurses and staff from another unit typically pitch in to help deal with the patient having the problem. Right now, however, one emergency is enough to leave other units with only one staff member watching the patients and this leads to problems, she said.
Faddis said her goal was to help the hospital reach safe staffing levels, for the sake of staff and patients.
"They're so sick that they can't be anywhere else," she said.
Nurses and union representatives are asking lawmakers for more help caring for the mentally ill at both the Salem and Portland campuses of the Oregon State Hospital.
Violence at the hospital has reached unacceptable levels, hospital staffers tell The Statesman Journal They attribute the problem to having too few staff to take care of the patients.
Data from the hospital shows that in 2012, 66 patients and staff have been injured by hospital patients, as of the end of July. Fifty of those injuries were inflicted on staff.
Nurse Faith Faddis, who has worked for the hospital in Portland for five years, said one major problem is having too few trained staff to cover violent incidents or emergencies. During an emergency, nurses and staff from another unit typically pitch in to help deal with the patient having the problem. Right now, however, one emergency is enough to leave other units with only one staff member watching the patients and this leads to problems, she said.
Faddis said her goal was to help the hospital reach safe staffing levels, for the sake of staff and patients.
"They're so sick that they can't be anywhere else," she said.
