Dear Colleagues,
After the tragic shooting last week in Raleigh, we are now processing news about a death of a provider in our local community. Yesterday, June Onkundi, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at the Freedom House Recovery Center in Durham, was stabbed to death by a patient. June is a former Medical Center teammate who also worked on the psychiatry team at Wake Med. The murder of anyone, but especially a clinician by a patient in a work setting, is deeply tragic and unsettling.
June’s killing is a tragic example of the workplace violence that has become far too common in healthcare. I want to be clear: Violence is not a part of your job. Each of you deserve to be safe at work.
I also want to share a reminder of safety resources available for you.
- If you see something, say something.
- Contact UNC Medical Center Police at 984-974-3686 or UNC Police at 919-962-3951
- Call 911 for an emergency.
- Sign-up for AlertCarolina notifications and ensure your contact information is up to date.
- Review the UNC Police Critical Incident Response guide online at https://police.unc.edu/services/active-shooter-critical-incident/.
- Review the Carolina Ready Online Emergency Preparedness Training online at https://campussafety.unc.edu/carolina-ready/resources/emergency-preparedness-101/.
Also, online you can find signage available to download, print and display in your units to emphasize the importance of a calm, healing and safe environment, as well as wellness resources that are available to you to use any time you need them.
Sincerely,
Cristy