Encino Hospital Medical Center nurses allege lax safety, security

Her memory of the attack is still vivid.

As an emergency room nurse at Encino Hospital Medical Center, the 59-year-old Woodland Hills resident was used to dealing with patients who were anxious and sometimes erratic. But this time, something was different.

“I went back in to check on him, and all of a sudden he stood up from the bed and threw me to the floor,” she said. “I didn’t realize until I got up that he had stabbed me in the abdomen and thigh.”

The employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, was one of two nurses and a doctor who were stabbed by the same patient on June 3, 2022. And a year after the attack, they say management hasn’t done enough to keep them safe.

Nurses represented by SEIU Local 121RN plan to hold a press conference Friday, June 2 to speak out on issues they say still plague the hospital.

“Even before the attack on our emergency department, nurses were calling for more security,” said Gloria Mateos, who is also an ER nurse at the Encino hospital. “That incident should have woken them up.”

In the aftermath of the attack, management pledged to provide trauma counseling and training to hospital staff, nurses said, but none of that support ever materialized.

“The fact is that the hospital never listened,” Mateos said. “Even now, they brush us to the side when we offer solutions.”

‘Safety-centric programs’

In a statement issued Wednesday, May 31, management said Encino Hospital Medical Center has “developed and implemented safety-centric programs” and is providing ongoing safety-related training and education.

The hospital said it has also received patient-safety excellence awards for five years running.

But the 90 SEIU-represented nurses at the Encino Hospital say there aren’t enough security officers or metal detectors to prevent weapons from being brought into the 150-bed facility and that existing security protocols don’t enhance safety.

They also oppose a hospital policy that requires nurses to check patients’ bags for contraband — a practice they say could escalate the potential for violence.

The nurses’ labor contract expired in October and the two sides are currently in negotiations.

A nationwide problem

Violence is an issue at healthcare facilities throughout the nation. A report from Press Ganey found that more than two nursing personnel were assaulted every hour during the second quarter of 2022.

That equates to roughly 57 assaults per day, 1,739 assaults per month and 5,217 assaults per quarter, the study said.

Press Ganey’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators shows the highest number of assaults occurred in psychiatric units, emergency departments and pediatric units dealing with burns, rehabilitation and surgery.

“Violence toward nurses has reached an alarming rate, nearing, if not already, an epidemic,” the report said. “Nurses deserve to be protected and feel safe while caring for people in their most vulnerable state.”

The Encino hospital nurse who wished to remain anonymous said she can no long work with patients, although she’s still employed at the hospital.

“I just came back to work a couple of months ago and I’m working in an office,” she said. “When the attack happened it was scary and a lot of things went through my mind. I was scared, disappointed … and thinking about my family.”