Wanda Christie on a study that exposes nurses’ desire for managers to take attacks more seriously and to implement and enforce firm guidelines to protect staff from abuse

Workplace violence against nurses perpetrated by patients is a global problem, and healthcare organisations must take steps to ensure that staff feel safe at work and supported when incidents occur. A study was undertaken in a US teaching hospital to determine nurses’ perceptions of management support following violent workplace incidents. This article describes the study and reports the results, which suggest that nurses want better implementation and enforcement of anti-violence policies, as well as more visible and immediate support from managers.