Stronger efforts needed to protect nurses from violence: study

Des Plaines, IL – Culture change and training are needed to help prevent violence against nurses, according to a recent study from the Emergency Nurses Association.

The qualitative study involved 46 emergency department nurses who wrote about their experiences with violence in the workplace. Respondents described a culture in which hospital administrators, prosecutors and judges accepted violence against nurses as part of the job and took action only when lives were in danger.

Likewise, nurses said they need more training to recognize early cues that a patient or visitor might become violent.

In addition to violence prevention education, researchers called for hospitals to implement zero-tolerance policies and procedures for dealing with violence.

The study was published online Jan. 17 in the Journal of Emergency Nursing.