Patient-related violence at triage: a qualitative descriptive study

In 1992, the largest number of non-fatal workplace assaults in the United States occurred between nursing staff and patients (Fisher & Gunnison, 2001). Recent figures estimate that Australian nurses are four times more likely to suffer an assault than those in the general workforce (Hegney, Eley, Plank, Buikstra & Parker, 2006) and twice as likely to experience work-related crime than other healthcare workers (Gallant-Roman, 2008). In the United Kingdom the prevalence of episodes of violence from patients is also reported to be escalating (Paniagua, Bond & Thompson, 2009). The phenomenon of workplace violence has been identified as one of the most complex and dangerous hazards facing the nursing profession today (Estryn-Behar, van der Heijden, Camerino, Fry, Le Nezet, Conway & Hasselhorn, 2008).