Nurse tells committee repeated assaults at Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital, urges staffing, training and faster access to court-ordered meds

Lisa Tucker, a registered nurse and acting supervisor at Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital, told the Vermont Health Care Committee on March 22 that repeated violent episodes on acute units have left multiple staff and patients injured and that she came to the committee “to advocate for improved safety.”

Tucker said a single long-stay patient recently led to more than 20 staff injuries, that the patient required teams of staff — “sometimes more than 10 to 12 staff, including 5 or more strong male staff” — to be controlled, and that staff and other patients stayed in their rooms “out of fear.” She said she was assaulted on April 22 while working as a charge nurse, suffered head and shoulder injuries, and remains unable to drive because of continuing treatment appointments.

The testimony came amid committee discussion of H.259, legislation on workplace violence in health care settings. Karen Barber, general counsel for the Vermont Department of Mental Health, told the committee VPCH already maintains a workplace violence prevention program that the hospital developed in 2018 and updates annually. Barber and VPCH leaders described ProAct de‑escalation training, event reporting and root‑cause analyses as central components of the hospital’s approach.

Why it matters: VPCH is a locked, level‑1 facility that treats the state’s most acutely ill involuntary psychiatric…