Seattle Children’s nurses call out workplace violence

Tuesday night, nurses who work in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit at Seattle Children's Hospital will hold a candlelight vigil.

Members of the Washington State Nurses Association say there’s been an increase in violence in the unit, and want to bring attention to the need for safer working conditions.

KUOW reporter Diana Opong talked to Soundside host Libby Denkmann about what nurses in the unit have been experiencing, and what's at the core of this issue.

"According to a statement from the Washington State Nurses Association, there have been at least 15 incidents since late September where nurses have felt unsafe, " Opong said. "Of those events, half of them occurred in November alone."