Gold Coast nurse wins $1.6m damages claim over workplace injury
Robina Hospital on the Gold Coast, Thursday, June 21, 2012. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
And every second shift at the Robina Hospital unit, a nurse would be “slapped or bitten or punched”.
However, Ms Wilson said she had not been taught how to safely restrain a patient, recalling “one little course about aggressive behaviour management”.
In March 2016, a dementia patient became disruptive and Ms Wilson helped restrain her.
More than seven years later, Ms Wilson, 46, has been awarded $1.6 million in damages after suffering a debilitating injury during the incident.
She successfully sued the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (GCHHS), with Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Soraya Ryan finding it negligent and liable for the injury.
Ms Wilson was inspired to become a nurse after the kind hospital treatment she received at 15 following a car accident.
Pregnant and homeless at 18, she “worked her arse off” to become a registered nurse.
By January 2013, the now mother-of-four started her “dream job” as a graduate nurse at Robina Hospital.
Ms Wilson aimed to work as a nurse “forever” after successful July 2015 back surgery.
Before her shift on the day of the incident, Ms Wilson was told that a patient had been aggressive to nurses and previously had a couple of “Code Black” situations which meant a threat to staff and need for security.
She thought the new graduate nurse assigned to the patient was overwhelmed because she was sitting at a desk crying.
When the patient’s behaviour escalated, two security guards arrived and moved her to a room as another nurse prepared an injection to calm her.
Security had her arms and Ms Wilson held the patient’s legs as she thrashed on a bed.
When they let go after the injection, the patient lashed out and Ms Wilson arched her back quickly to avoid being kicked before twisting to avoid a thrown object.
Later in her shift Ms Wilson felt pain “like a labour contraction” that took her breath away and then spasms.
She now lives on a disability pension, suffering painful spasms mostly in her pelvis and hip up to 20 times a day.
Despite repeated attempts to find a solution, Ms Wilson no longer works or takes part in activities she previously enjoyed.
She has gained 30kg, become depressed and is under financial pressure.
Ms Wilson can’t sit or stand for long and is unable to drive long distances.
“She broke up with her partner a few years ago. She believes that she has nothing to give him,” Justice Ryan said in her judgment.
“She said she would do anything to go back to work.”
Justice Ryan said the GCHHS was negligent in failing to instruct Ms Wilson not to be involved in a patient’s restraint.
They were also negligent due to the failure to call a third security officer to take part in the restraint rather than Ms Wilson, she said.
Justice Ryan calculated damages at $1,634,418.55.
And every second shift at the Robina Hospital unit, a nurse would be “slapped or bitten or punched”.
However, Ms Wilson said she had not been taught how to safely restrain a patient, recalling “one little course about aggressive behaviour management”.
In March 2016, a dementia patient became disruptive and Ms Wilson helped restrain her.
More than seven years later, Ms Wilson, 46, has been awarded $1.6 million in damages after suffering a debilitating injury during the incident.
She successfully sued the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (GCHHS), with Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Soraya Ryan finding it negligent and liable for the injury.
Ms Wilson was inspired to become a nurse after the kind hospital treatment she received at 15 following a car accident.
Pregnant and homeless at 18, she “worked her arse off” to become a registered nurse.
By January 2013, the now mother-of-four started her “dream job” as a graduate nurse at Robina Hospital.
Ms Wilson aimed to work as a nurse “forever” after successful July 2015 back surgery.
Before her shift on the day of the incident, Ms Wilson was told that a patient had been aggressive to nurses and previously had a couple of “Code Black” situations which meant a threat to staff and need for security.
She thought the new graduate nurse assigned to the patient was overwhelmed because she was sitting at a desk crying.
When the patient’s behaviour escalated, two security guards arrived and moved her to a room as another nurse prepared an injection to calm her.
Security had her arms and Ms Wilson held the patient’s legs as she thrashed on a bed.
When they let go after the injection, the patient lashed out and Ms Wilson arched her back quickly to avoid being kicked before twisting to avoid a thrown object.
Later in her shift Ms Wilson felt pain “like a labour contraction” that took her breath away and then spasms.
She now lives on a disability pension, suffering painful spasms mostly in her pelvis and hip up to 20 times a day.
Despite repeated attempts to find a solution, Ms Wilson no longer works or takes part in activities she previously enjoyed.
She has gained 30kg, become depressed and is under financial pressure.
Ms Wilson can’t sit or stand for long and is unable to drive long distances.
“She broke up with her partner a few years ago. She believes that she has nothing to give him,” Justice Ryan said in her judgment.
“She said she would do anything to go back to work.”
Justice Ryan said the GCHHS was negligent in failing to instruct Ms Wilson not to be involved in a patient’s restraint.
They were also negligent due to the failure to call a third security officer to take part in the restraint rather than Ms Wilson, she said.
Justice Ryan calculated damages at $1,634,418.55.
