Christus St. Vincent Reports Uptick in Violence at Hospital
Public health officials have repeatedly discussed New Mexico’s overburdened hospitals and understaffed healthcare workers in weekly COVID-19 updates, with cases currently surging and several hospitals—including the state’s largest—recently enacting crisis standards of care.
COVID-19 hospitalizations today rose to 639, 80 more than yesterday, and well on the way to the 700 hospitalizations recently forecast by a model from Presbyterian Healthcare Services.
But during a Nov. 22 legislative briefing from the New Mexico Hospital Association and hospital officials, Tim Johnsen, a registered nurse and senior vice president and chief operating officer at Presbyterian, said in addition to crushing patient loads and exhausting shifts, nurses are also facing harassment:
“Our nurses don’t stop at the grocery store in their scrubs anymore,” Johnsen said, because “healthcare, with its masking and vaccination requirements, has become an arena for conflict.” As such, rather than appreciation, nurses are “sneered at” in public. And at the hospital, he said, “in our hallways, our waiting rooms, our ERS and our ICUS... nurses are spat upon, kicked, punched, cussed out and physically assaulted. Daily.” In response, he said, Presbyterian has added security and metal detectors. “I truly never thought I’d have to worry about a nurse’s personal safety while at work,” he said.