A Veteran nurse from
Geelong Hospital, who was unfortunately assaulted physically in the
head six times by a visitor from the emergency department as ailing
children watched on, say staff are being attacked.
The battered nurse
resumed her work last night after staying more than a week at home
tending a cut lip and bruises to her head, back, and ear.
According to the 55-year-old veteran nurse terrified nurses were
confronting escalating violence from visitors and patients.
Statistics show 60 nurses are attacked every month at Geelong
Hospital.
The woman, who requested to be anonymous said she was attacked
after she requested her assailant to leave when the woman became
hostile and offensive in the waiting room at 12:30 a.m. on January
16.
"She then turned and punched me to the face and I became
unbalanced and then she punched the daylights out of my head,"
the nurse said. "I was crouching down and she punched me to the
head. I was terrified."
She narrated that the maltreatment
only stopped when the mother of a six-year-old she was taking care of
came to her rescue.
The nurse, who is also a grandmother and has 35 years experience
in her chosen field, said her associates were mistreated in a daily
basis and has shown no respect.
She revealed that she has received threats against her life and
her family.
"We are busier because the population is growing and the
hospital is big and people are getting frustrated and angry,"
she said. "We get disrespected daily and it's quite confronting.
All we are doing is our job and it's to help people and here we are
being treated like dirt."
Paul Gilbert, Australian Nurses Federation Victorian branch's
acting secretary alleged it was time the Government proposed laws
that shields nurses from violent people. Just like the protection
police and paramedics were offered.
He said, for the last 10 years staffing
levels in emergency departments had been static and there were not
sufficient nurses or space to treat the patients.
"There is no doubt that high
occupancy would be a precursor to the potential violence," Mr
Gilbert said. "People don't come to work to be assaulted, least
of all nurses."
Lucy Cuddihy, a Barwon Health nursing executive director
acknowledged the incident and said the nurse was provided with
immediate medical care and counseling.
Cuddihy said, "It is recognized across all health
organizations that front-line staff may become a victim of violence
and aggression."
She also added that Barwon Health also provides security on site
at all times to help staff with incidents that can likely move up to
violence and/or aggression. They treat circumstances of this type
very seriously and offer care and support at all times.
The staff often protect each other according to the nurse and that
the hospital had been
The nurse said the staff often looked out for each other and that
the hospital had been supportive after the incident.
The assault was being investigated by the police.