Experts warn other hospitals should watch closely as London’s largest hospital reviews how it flags potentially violent patients with purple armbands. The armband policy was put in place as part of a settlement with the Ontario Labour Relations Board over a nurse who was assaulted by a patient with a history of violence. Dealing with violent patients is a critical issue for hospitals, but a bioethicist at the University Health Network in Toronto and a spokesperson for the Canadian Bioethics Society says they have to be careful how they balance those patients’ rights against the security of others. Many hospitals and healthcare institutions are working on behavioural safety-alert policies and she believes discussions about ethics should figure into the development of such policies. London Health Sciences Centre expects to consult patients and families and analyze six months of data to better understand the impact of the practice.
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Here's how Canada's largest psychiatric hospital flags potentially violent patients - CBC
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