Lone nurses ‘at risk of attack’

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Title – Lone nurses ‘at risk of attack’Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 9th July 2007

This Royal College of Nursing survey reiterates what anyone working in the NHS, whether they work alone or as part of a team within a surgery or hospital already knows; the NHS is not an altogether safe place to work and the problem of aggression and violence faced by all healthcare workers, remains at an unacceptable level.

There can never be a reasonable excuse for any individual saying a bad word to a health care worker in the course of their duties, let alone acting aggressively or violently. These individuals are the ones we call to our aid when we most need assistance and anything but thanks, is simply unacceptable.

However we are also all aware that some sections of, and individuals within, our community, either hold different views, are prejudice or are simply unable to control their emotions and their aggressive / violent tendencies. So with this in mind we must not stop working on eradicating any instance of work related violence, but must also prepare those working in these environments to deal with these situations effectively and professionally.

It is clearly proven that to resolve the problem we first need to understand it. In workplaces across the country and across almost all sectors, there is a continuing problem of under-reporting of incidents of violence in the workplace. People affected on a regular basis see these incidents as part of their working environments and something they 'just have to get on with'. It is certainly true that we have to deal with these situations; but reporting them helps not only record the incidents for employers to be aware of and act upon, it can also aid in the understanding of trends, patterns and ultimately solutions to these problems. Reporting can also play a key role in those individuals involved, coming to terms with what happened and preventing re-occurrence in the future.

Ultimately the approach of the Security Management Services of the NHS is a positive one, the solution to reducing the number of incidents of workplace violence within the NHS and other organisations where staff face similar problems is three fold:

1. Reporting, Recording and Monitoring.

2. Training – Especially Conflict Resolution Training and in more serious cases Physical Intervention Training

3. Technology

We run courses in Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) and Physical Intervention (PI) for clients from a variety of sectors, both private and public. We understand that each situation is very different and research the needs of our clients carefully before tailoring our courses to meet their needs specifically.
Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk