Violence Against Nurses on the Rise
Jason Brooks, president and CEO of DT4EMS, leads a company that trains nurses and first responders in how to handle attacks. One course is titled, âEscaping Violent Encounters for Health Care Professionals.â When he strikes up conversations at the airport about his line of work, people are shocked. They ask him, âWhy would anyone want to hurt a nurse?â
Nurses themselves are often conflicted, Livaccari says. âWeâre here to help. Weâre here as caregivers. We want to take care of people. Itâs really easy for us to excuse the behavior. âThey didnât mean to hurt me. They didnât mean to punch me in the face.ââÂ
In fact, many are taught to accept violence as part of the job. If nurses tell hospital administrators or colleagues about a violent incident, they might respond, âWell, that just happens,â says Kraus, a registered nurse.Â
âWell, it shouldnât happen,â he says, âand we shouldnât allow that to be the norm.â
Many nurses believe that gender plays a role in why their concerns about violence arenât taken more seriously and have gained so little public attention. âItâs always been a female-dominated profession, and itâs always been mistreated, frankly,â Brogan says. According to him, 87% of U.S. nurses are women.
As one commenter wrote after Nurse Lizâs episode, âItâs OK to hit a nurse, but not a police officer.â
While male nurses are assaulted, too, women are subjected to more sexual abuse, such as grabbing thighs or touching buttocks or being groped, Livaccari says.
Kamara also has seen groping in the emergency room. âItâs not OK for a man to grope you while youâre outside walking. Then itâs not OK for them to do it in a hospital, especially when a patient is fully aware of whatâs going on.â
âIâm always one of those people telling nurses, âListen, we have to stand up for ourselves,ââ Kamara says. âSome people come into the hospital and do worse than they would outside because they realize outside, they will get arrested and be held accountable. However, when they come into the hospital, they donât.â