Nurses' Reality: Enduring Injuries While Caring for Patients
Wall Street Journal
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By BENJAMIN BREWER, M.D.
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Excerpt...Many nurses and nursing assistants have had patients
accidentally injure them. One obstetrics nurse at our hospital was
injured when a patient grabbed her around the neck while pushing in
labor. She needed medical treatment for a neck strain afterwards.
Certified nurse assistants, who do the bulk of patient
lifting and moving, get back injuries frequently. They often work
shorthanded because the pay is low, the work is hard and their
co-workers don't show up. Patients unexpectedly drop on them or grab
them and pull them off balance.
A 2002 study in the Journal of Emergency found that at
a large Florida hospital 88% of nurses reported being verbally
assaulted and 74% reported being physically assaulted while at work in
the past year. (Read the abstract)
With hospitals focused on patient safety and patient satisfaction, the nursing safety issue hasn't gotten as much attention.
Nurses and doctors in the emergency department are the most likely to encounter workplace violence.
A 2005 study of Michigan ER doctors showed that 75%
were verbally threatened, 28% were physically assaulted and 3.5% were
stalked in the previous year. (Read the abstract)
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