By Jacqui Pich, University of Technology Sydney
Two recent violent episodes against nurses in emergency departments have again highlighted the issue of inadequate protections for nursing staff.
In both cases the nurses, from Wyong Hospital on the central coast of NSW and The Royal Melbourne Hospital in Victoria, were held hostage by knife-wielding patients. These cases seem extreme, but they are not isolated.
Nurses are exposed to high levels of physical and verbal violence, to the point where this has become an expected and even accepted part of their job.
999, the Australian Institute of Criminology ranked the health industry as the most violent workplace in the country. According to US statistics, health-care workers are five to 12 times more likely than other workers to experience violence in the workplace.
Top Comments
This is horrendous - I remember in the 90's when my sister in law was a new nurse on general ward duty and the level of violence that she encountered. It was from both patients and visitors - physical and verbal. It horrifies me that it has escalated.
These men and women do an amazing job, they are life savers in so many ways and should be respected for the amazing work they do.