Violence towards nurses has increased 40 per cent since 2001, with 1,156 of the 2,397 nurses and midwives in the survey of Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union members saying they had experienced violence in recent months – a staggering number.
The study also found violence was worse in aged care facilities and remote and regional hospitals than in major cities and large regional centres.
The fact is that media attention tends to focus on cases of abuse in aged care – when the incidence of abuse of nurses is significantly higher. Neither is good.
A serious problem
QNMU secretary Beth Mohle says in aged care, violence often relates to dealing with residents with dementia – and having enough staff and skilled nurses is key to tackling this. Hospitals have security staff but aged care homes don’t.
Now many regional and remote operators are already struggling to recruit staff. 40 per cent of respondents said they did not have time to meet residents’ needs due to chronic understaffing.
As we see in the story below about Barunga Village, there are ways to help manage aggression in residents with dementia – but the providers need to have the staff to implement them. That will take time and money – something in short supply for many regional operators.
“We take care of our patients, clients and residents – but we need the community to take care of us too,” Ms Mohle said.
If we want to make sure we have people to care for us and our families, it’s worth making it happen.
