In the exercise of their profession, two thirds of nurses say they have been victims of verbal or physical aggression.
Two-thirds of nurses say they have been victims of verbal or physical aggression in the exercise of their profession, according to a survey by the Order of Nurses made public on Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ministry of Health on the safety of nurses. caregivers.
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According to the Order, 66% of 31,281 nurses surveyed in April and early May said they had been victims of attacks in their professional life, and 73% said they had witnessed this kind of thing. For 15% of these nurses who are victims or witnesses, this is a situation experienced “every week or almost”, and for 40%, “several times a year”.
Support, cognitive disorders, narcotics
Among nurses who were victims or witnesses, more than a third (37%) reported blows, almost half physical threats (45%), and three quarters (75%) insults. Nearly 5% (4.97%) mention the use of a weapon.
The main causes of incidents mentioned are complaints related to care (48%), cognitive disorders (42%), state of intoxication or taking narcotics (23%) or even the time wait considered too long (28%).
More than half (54%) of the nurses questioned do not feel safe in their workplace, the survey also indicates. To prevent attacks and protect nurses, it is necessary to provide “a system of reinforced sanctions” for aggressors and “better listening” to victims “on the part of the police and judicial authorities”, commented the Order.
It is also necessary “to deal with the structural causes of the violence, which cannot be reduced only to the responsibility of their perpetrators: lack of staff, pressure on caregivers, disorganization leading to tension and overwork”, he also indicates.
76% overworked
The Order of Nurses also points out that “72% of nurses have thus already had the feeling of being the subject of violence” emanating “from an institution for which they worked or were linked in the context of professional exercise. “.
Among this violence, the Order cites an overload of work (mentioned by 76% of these nurses), the lack of support and accompaniment in daily practice (55%), the lack of recognition of skills (56% ) or financial recognition (54%).
A 37-year-old nurse, Carène Mezino, died on the night of Monday to Tuesday after being attacked with a knife at the Reims University Hospital where she worked. The attacker is a 59-year-old man with a serious psychiatric history. A medical secretary was also seriously injured.