Nurses at the Royal Hobart Hospital are being trained to search and pat-down people for weapons, a practice that the union says is leaving them feeling like security guards and poses a “serious safety risk”.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) says it will fight the initiative and advise members not to take on the additional duties.
ANMF State Secretary Emily Shepherd said nurses are already stretched thin and should not be responsible for tasks that are “far beyond their nursing duties”.
“At first I thought someone must be joking but when I learnt that this was a fact, I was horrified,” she said. “No nurse should be required to perform searches or pat-downs on patients.”
“We are demanding properly trained and resourced security personnel are the appropriate personnel to maintain safety and perform such duties.”
She said further action will be taken through the Tasmanian Industrial Commission if the practice is not dropped.
Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff called the exercise “alarming” and said it undermines the therapeutic relationship between nurses and patients.
“Ensuring safety for health staff and patients in hospitals is critical, but no nurse should have to required to perform these kinds of screening practices,” she said.
“It’s clearly a job for security personnel or police when necessary.”
Hospitals South chief executive Joe McDonald said the staff being trained had requested it, adding it was “not mandatory” for staff to undertake searches.
“Training was provided in May this year at the request of RHH ED staff, following a recommendation made as part of the Independent Review into Safety and Security in Emergency Departments,” he said.
“The recommendation focuses on training for staff in security and search processes, to better equip our healthcare workers to prepare for certain situations.”
McDonald said Department of Health is “continuing to take action to improve safety and security in our public hospitals”.
“The training is about increasing staff competency to perform searches, if needed.”
“Trained contracted security personnel continue to work in our emergency departments, while ED Patient Support Officers have also been newly introduced and recruited to assist our health professionals to manage de-escalation and deal with aggression.”
