High Rate of Violence Reported Against ER Nurses

DES PLAINES, Ill. — A new study suggests that rates of violence against emergency room nurses are high, and remain steady. The report also suggests that remedies to the problem do exist.

 

The study, which was issued by the Emergency Nurses Association, states that every week, as many as 8-10 percent of emergency room nurses in the United States are victims of physical violence. 

 

The Emergency Department Violence Study also reported that 15 percent of the nurses who reported experiencing physical violence said that they received physical injuries as a result, and in 45 percent of the cases, no [legal] action was taken against the perpetrator, and in 75 percent of cases, nurses that were victims of violence reported that the hospital gave them no response regarding that violence.

 

ENA officials are calling for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to issue standards for reducing workplace violence.

 

"We are extremely alarmed that there are so many cases in which hospitals do not respond to violence in the emergency department," says Diane Gurney, president at ENA. "Hospital administration has a responsibility to keep patients and healthcare providers who care for them safe. Every hospital should be required to adopt and implement policies to make their emergency rooms safer."

 

The entire report can be found on ENA’s website, www.ena.org.