As South Australian nurses call for the right to refuse treatment to aggressive patients, the State Government has unveiled a new social media campaign aimed at curbing violence in hospital emergency departments. The campaign comprises a 30-second video which dramatises the type of hostile encounter routinely experienced by hospital staff. Health workers are dealing with violence on a daily basis, including being threatened with infected blood and having drink cans thrown at them, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Federation. Government statistics show the number of code black incidents, where the safety of hospital staff is threatened, is rising. So far in 2016–17 there have been 6,245 code blacks, compared to 4,765 at the same time in 2015–16. That increase is partly due to rising levels of substance abuse, including the drug ice, Health Minister Jack Snelling said. But it also reflects a greater propensity by staff to declare code black.
