Dealing with verbal abuse

In the recent report by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC 1987) into violence in the Health Service, the group of staff who were identified as being most at risk, were student nurses. The highest incidence of aggression reported was verbal abuse, and in a 12-month-period 4 out of 10 students who responded to the study had experienced such abuse. Student nurses are in a very vulnerable position and are likely to be the recipients of verbal attack, such as anger, hostility or abuse. This vulnerability may be due to their front line position, their lack of skill and experience, or more often the lack of any training in handling such situations.