Violence towards the caregiver. A growing crisis for professional nursing

The violence that permeates society at large does not stop at the hospital walls. Indeed, there exists mounting evidence (Carroll, 1998; Morgan, 1999; Trossman, 2001) to suggest that workplace abuse of healthcare professionals, specifically nurses, by patients is a common and widespread problem. New research indicates that violence in the health care workplace is actually a global phenomenon. International Labor Organization [ILO]; International Council of Nurses [ICN]; The World Health Organization [WHO]; Public Services International [PSI], (2001). More than 30 percent of nurses recently surveyed in seven states reported having been the victims of work place violence in the previous year. Patients had assaulted most of these nurses. (Colorado Nurses Association [CNA], 1998) Nurses are dying and suffering injuries at work as a result of violence (Doody 1995). The purpose of this paper is to increase nurses' awareness of the risk factors for violence in health care settings and to provide strategies for reducing nurses' exposure to these factors.