Under-reporting of violent incidents against nursing staff
Terry Ferns Senior lecturer, University of Greenwich, London
This article examines factors that contribute to nurses failing to report incidents of violence and aggression in the clinical area and it develops the information published in a previous article (Ferns and Chojnacka 2005). Broader social factors are considered, including gender, violence experienced by women, the status of the nursing profession and bureaucratic structures that contribute to underreporting. The life experiences of individual nursing staff play a significant role in how they react to violence in the clinical area. Strategies to minimise violence against nurses should consider the social, political and personal issues that limit the reporting of violent incidents. Only by reporting such incidents can the extent of violence towards nurses be determined and minimised.
Nursing Standard.
20, 40, 41-45.
doi: 10.7748/ns2006.06.20.40.41.c4178
Correspondence
T.Ferns@gre.ac.uk
Peer review
This article has been subject to double blind peer review
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