Ontario nurses are calling out the violence they experience in the workplace.

The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), the union representing 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as more than 18,000 nursing student affiliates, has a new, comprehensive ad campaign by agency partner Compass360.

ONA’s “Code Black and Blue” is a play on the hospital medical emergency signal, “code blue,” referring to a critical condition event.

The hero spot features real front-line nurses talking about their experiences and drawing back the curtain on a shocking reality many people are not aware of.

“With virtually every nurse and health-care professional experiencing workplace violence, we are using the phrase to reveal the reality of a bruised and battered workforce and call a code for urgent action as we do in our hospitals,” says provincial president Erin Ariss, who is also a registered nurse.

According to Ariss, people are not used to seeing nurses be vulnerable, but it’s important that viewers understand what health-care workers are experiencing and what is driving so many to step away from the profession.

“We know how to stop never-ending physical and verbal assaults against nurses,” she says. “Yet our employers and the provincial government have refused to take the measures shown to greatly reduce the violence we face daily, including mandated safe staffing levels.”

The organization claims employers and the Ford government are failing to take action to protect staff.

Ariss says there is a “shocking double standard” that the safety of other first responders, such as firefighters and EMS personnel, are taken more seriously.

The ads began appearing in transit shelters across the province and on a dedicated microsite last week.

The “Code Black and Blue” campaign will continue with social media, television and in print newspapers over the next five weeks.

Toronto strategic and creative brand communications agency Compass360 is behind strategy, creative and also the media buy.