An investigative report conducted by a Chicago television station has found that hospitals in the city aren’t regularly tracking or sharing workplace violence against nurses, according to an article on the Campus Safety website.
Nurses told WGN9 that there aren’t sufficient safety measures to protect them.
The investigation was prompted by two hostage situations at hospitals in the northern Illinois this summer. In one case, a forensic patient was killed by SWAT team member after taking two nurses hostage inside Delnor Hospital in Geneva. Before the inmate died, he raped and tortured one of the nurses he was holding captive, according to the article.
Federal and Illinois laws require hospitals keep track of incidents, but usually that information isn’t shared with the public, the survey found. Some cases aren’t recorded when the victims aren’t physically injured.