Infermieri primi per violenza subita

Violence against nurses is an underestimated phenomenon as many colleagues avoid reporting it; it is a serious and widespread problem in many countries around the world.

Nurses are exposed to situations of verbal and physical violence from patients, patients' family members, and visitors. This violence can have psychological and physical consequences for nurses, and can also affect the quality of care provided to patients.

According to a 2019 survey by the University of Tor Vergata on nurses who have suffered assaults, these manifested as spitting (43.1%), followed by throwing objects, scratching, slapping-punching, shoving, kicking, biting (0.3%). Not to mention verbal assaults, insults, threats, sexual harassment, groping. The psychological repercussions can be devastating, anger (58.8%), sense of helplessness, anxiety, disgust, sadness, fear, etc.

The causes of violence against nurses are multiple and complex. Mental or behavioral disorders, long waiting times, frustration due to lack of immediate attention, the shortage of nursing staff and lack of safety in the workplace.

Many organizations have developed training programs (with poor results) for healthcare personnel, hoping to help prevent and manage violent situations.

The competent authorities, after multiple reports from Nursing Up, are working to increase safety in nurses' workplaces. However, the long-term solution requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of violence, such as lack of resources and poor attention to patients' mental health. 

At the national level, 5,000 nurses per year suffer physical or verbal assaults and nursing staff represents the category of professionals who suffer the most violence (46%), we repeat, this is an underestimate as many colleagues avoid reporting.

Alarming data comes from Tuscan hospitals, July-September 2022 quarter, the data shows that in the last quarter (July 1-September 30, 2022) there was a sharp increase in assaults, especially verbal ones (the total stands at about 400 assaults, of which 85 were physical). Thus, a percentage change of 48%, and for physical assaults, 30%.

According to Inail the percentage of injuries from violence out of total injuries does not show significant differences over time, for any geographical area. The frequencies by age group show that healthcare workers subject to assaults do not show significant differences in age distribution compared to healthcare workers victims of injuries as a whole.

In 2019, the WHO, in collaboration with the Nursing Up Union, highlighted in Italy an alarming increase in reports of verbal harassment, discrimination, and physical violence against healthcare workers.

One in 10 nurses has suffered physical violence at work and 4% have been threatened with a gun in the past year. 79% are women.

In the same year, Nursing Up launched a concrete alarm to the institutions, with an explicit request/appeal to restore, within hospitals, the permanent presence of law enforcement, which had long been suppressed in many healthcare settings.

Since 2022, the President of Nursing Up, Antonio De Palma has strongly wanted, for all its members, free insurance coverage against assaults.

The O.S. Nursing Up asks to:

• increase human resources: it is not possible to continue working understaffed, healthcare workers must be adequate in number to meet all the care needs of users and their families;

• develop educational projects also aimed at users;

• develop at the legislative level a specific discipline in the field of prevention;

• implement the participation of companies in support of the criminal proceedings initiated by the assaulted: the company could become a civil party in the criminal proceedings whenever acts of violence and assault against healthcare workers occur, or could support the legal expenses of the assaulted employee;

• develop company procedures for the prevention of acts of violence against healthcare workers;

• structurally provide also safety zones where staff can take refuge while waiting for help from other external operators;

• increase the number of State Police officers within our facilities;

• define a memorandum of understanding between Companies and Law Enforcement that regulates the methods of collaboration for the management of these cases;

• carefully report the conclusions of the risk assessment in the "risk assessment document";

• increase the presence of cultural mediators, to improve communication with foreign users.

That of the nurse is an exhausting, difficult profession, full of risks and responsibilities with a salary that does not allow you to make ends meet (in Italy). According to a study by researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan the nurse has a double risk of suicide compared to the general population, a 70% higher risk than doctors, and they believe the situation can only get worse, especially in Italy where a nurse earns a thousand euros less than a colleague in Northern Europe.