Nurse attacked in Kamloops hospital

A nurse was brutally assaulted in aKamloopshealth care centrejust days after a doctor was knocked unconscious by patient at another B.C. hospital.

The BC. Nurses'Union saidthe nurse was punched grabbed by the hair, punched several times and thrown against a wall on Sunday.The alleged assault happened at the Hillside Centre at Royal Inland Hospital, where patients with psychiatric and severe dysfunctional behaviours receive treatment.

Gayle Duteil, the president of the nurse's union, said theprovince needs to improve safety measures and provide personal alarms for nurses and doctors.

"Clearly we need to start seeing health authorities take the violence against health care professionals in a serious way, because no one wants to go to work to be beaten up or assaulted," she said, "And our role as nurses it to provide safe patient care and we need to start that by providing a safe environments for the nurses."

Last year, another nurse was seriously assaulted at the same facility.

According to the union,the Interior Health Authority promised better security after the attack last year, but the room in which the nurse was assaultedon Sundayhad an alarm with a dead battery.

"Nurses are assaulted almost daily in hospitals across BC," she added in a press release. "In many cases, the assaults could be prevented with better staffing levels, on-site security personnel and alarm systems that work."

The union stressed a similar message on Friday after a doctor was attacked in Penticton by a psychiatric patient. It's calling for:

• Personal alarms for staff.
• Security personnel assigned directly to psychiatric units, rather than "a walkthrough."
• Security cameras.

Gregory Stanley Nield, 30, has been charged with aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the attack on the doctor.