provincial Campaign

Code Black & Blue

In what workplace is it acceptable to be kicked, punched, pushed, spit at or strangled? Where insults and threats are hurled at you but you continue working without support?

This is what the Ford Conservatives and our employers deem acceptable for nurses and health-care professionals. In the last year alone, a whopping 48 per cent of ONA members say they have experienced physical abuse, and it is only getting worse. This is why we’re calling a code black and blue.

With understaffing and a lack of resources, our workplaces are pressure cookers where patients and health-care workers at risk. While other first responders like police and firefighters have staffing ratios to keep them safe, nurses and health-care professionals are expected to take every punch. This must end. It’s time to protect nurses and health-care professionals and improve care for everyone. We demand legislated safe staffing ratios and a plan to prevent workplace violence and harassment once and for all. Lives depend on it.

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Did you know?

WSIB data obtained by ONA from 2021 to 2024 show that health-care workers missed 130,438 days of work due to workplace violence and harassment.[1]
During that same time, the benefit costs associated with violence were over $38 million.[2]
According to a CFNU survey, 63 per cent of respondents say they experienced physical abuse including hitting, spitting, punching and pushing in the past year alone.[3]
About 89 per cent say they experienced verbal abuse.[4]
More than 31 per cent say they did not report any incidents for fear of repercussion.[5]
Evidence shows nursing ratios improve staffing.
- Sacramento California experienced a 69 per cent decrease in nursing vacancies within four years following the implementation of ratios.[6]
- In Victoria Australia, the number of employed nurses grew by more than 24 per cent, with more than 7,000 inactive nurses returning to the workforce, after the implementation of ratios.[7]

[1] WSIB Data obtained by ONA from 2021-2024.

[2] WSIB data obtained by ONA from 2021-2024.

[3] CFNU Member Survey Report. March 2024. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:15ad2bd9-920e-477d-b380-a3a733c8aee9

[4] CFNU Member Survey Report. March 2024. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:15ad2bd9-920e-477d-b380-a3a733c8aee9

[5] CFNU Member Survey Report. March 2024. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:15ad2bd9-920e-477d-b380-a3a733c8aee9

[6] Research from the BC Nurses’ Union. Minimum Nurse-to-patient Rario FAQ. Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratio FAQ | BC Nurses' Union

[7] Research from the BC Nurses’ Union. Minimum Nurse-to-patient Rario FAQ. Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratio FAQ | BC Nurses' Union

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Safe staffing ratios are the maximum number of patients that one nurse or health-care professional can safely and thoroughly take care of.

Workplace violence happens every day, in every single health-care sector. Most nurses and health-care professionals say they are working overcapacity, with less resources and more violence. That’s why many are leaving their jobs.

We need to take care of the staff that take care of our families and communities. Safe staffing will help improve working conditions so that we can recruit and retain nursing and health-care professionals.

Delayed care causes frustrations to rise and more complex, costly-to-treat health conditions. Patients, residents and clients need the right level of care at the right time, in the right place. Staffing ratios will ensure that there are enough nurses, health-care professionals and resources to provide preventative, ongoing and comprehensive care.

Staffing ratios is only one tool in our toolbox to help prevent workplace violence. That’s why the province must develop a province-wide framework in consultation with health-care unions and stakeholders to prevent workplace violence and harassment. It should include best practices for: