Natasha Poirier, a former nurse manager at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in New Brunswick, demands collective action to implement preventive measures against violence targeting nurses and other healthcare professionals.
In her newly released book, Unsure: Bearing Witness to Justice, Poirier emphasizes the urgent need to recognize violence against healthcare workers as an occupational hazard. “We must collectively declare that it is an occupational hazard. The time to say ‘Enough is Enough!!!’ has arrived,” she declares.
Assault Incident and Legal Battle
On March 11, 2019, Bruce (Randy) Van Horlick, the husband of a patient, attacked Poirier while demanding a quieter room for his wife. Van Horlick’s assault involved pulling Poirier from her chair by her hair, punching her on the temple, throwing her against a wall, and twisting her arm and fingers. The attack, which lasted 11 minutes, also targeted another nurse, Teresa Thibeault, who tried to intervene.
Van Horlick served six months in prison for the assault and was released in September 2022. He admitted in court that he could “snap again.” Poirier, unable to return to work after the attack, sued Van Horlick and won $1.3 million in damages, which he has yet to pay.
Confronting Violence and the ‘Code of Silence’
Throughout her 25-year career, Poirier endured two previous assaults at work. In one incident, a patient kicked her in the stomach when she was eight months pregnant. She also witnessed colleagues being pushed, spat upon, threatened, and having urine and feces thrown at them. Despite these incidents, Poirier notes that few healthcare workers speak out due to an unspoken “code of silence.”
“There’s an unspoken rule, the ‘code of silence,’ and the fear of retaliation, losing their jobs, being blamed, judged, seen as weak, and the guilt and shame — all those factors silence healthcare workers,” Poirier explains.
Poirier hopes her book will help change the narrative and encourage more healthcare workers to speak out against violence. “If my voice can help, or can shed light on the silence surrounding violence, then perhaps this might be my future contribution.”
Healthcare workers across the country are increasingly calling for action to address the rising violence against them.