Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks

By DAVID TULLER Published: July 8, 2008, New York Times Advocates for nurses are lobbying for increased penalties for violent patients and urging that all incidents be reported. Nurses and other personal care workers bear the brunt of such attacks, with 25 injuries annually resulting in days off from work for every 10,000 full-time workers — 12 times the rate of the overall private sector, according to the bureau. The most dangerous settings are psychiatric units and nursing homes, where patients are often confused, disoriented or suffering from mental ailments, as well as emergency rooms, where long waits for care can anger patients, and the people with them.