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environment – shouting and swearing, that kind of abuse. Also about 60 per cent of them also felt at risk of physical aggression and violence in the future as well, which obviously is concerning to all of us.
What types of aggression and violence did these students report? There was a variety of aggression and violence reported. [ As far as ] physical aggression and violence, we had students who were grabbed or pushed, punched or [ had punches thrown at them ], some students were kicked, even bitten. And one of our third-year students had an attempted stabbing, which is obviously concerning because these are life-threatening incidents.
Students face – and fear – violence
Survey finds verbal and non-verbal abuse are widespread, with a deep impact.
Interview by Dallas Bastian
New research indicates that a significant percentage of Western Australia’ s nursing students have been exposed to aggression and violence whilst on clinical placement.
A study conducted by Murdoch University PhD student Martin Hopkins found that students have been punched, slapped, grabbed, bitten and pushed. One respondent reported that a patient had attempted to stab them. In some cases, injuries sustained from the incident resulted in time off work.
Here, Hopkins outlines the results of the study and describes a gap that exists in the current education of nursing students.
CR: About 150 second- and third-year students with placements in aged care, mental health and acute care participated in the study. How many students reported encountering physical or non-physical violence? MH: The study categorised [ incidents ] into physical aggression and violence and non-physical aggression and violence. It’ s quite alarming that more than a third of the second-year students reported experiencing physical violence in a clinical setting. Just over half, about 55 per cent, of third-year students experienced physical aggression and violence.
Along with that, we asked the students how at-risk they felt of physical aggression and violence in the clinical area. That was quite concerning as well, because more than 45 per cent of the second-year nursing students felt at risk and nearly the same proportion of the third-years felt at risk of physical aggression and violence.
There were higher [ rates ] of nonphysical [ incidents ]; nearly 60 per cent of all students experienced non-physical aggression and violence in a clinical
Were there any work environments where aggression or violence was more prevalent? For most second-year students, placements were in the aged-care settings, which was surprising. Third-year students have their experiences in more acute settings, in mental health areas, and places like the ED and acute medical and surgical wards.
Were there any other particular examples of violent or aggressive behaviour that you found alarming? I think the stabbing is the one that stands out from the rest. But we have also had examples of patients kicking students, as well as having objects thrown at them, which could cause injuries.
It left quite a marked impression on the students. We had students who were saying they felt incompetent, that they were considering discontinuing their nurse training, that they felt inadequate. Also that they felt they would never be competent as a registered nurse.
What needs to be done? The problem is there’ s no aggression and violence training or education specifically for undergraduate nursing students. There’ s lots available for postgraduate nurses, and for registered nurses to apply themselves to, but there’ s nothing specifically for undergraduate students.
We feel that education about aggression and violence needs to be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum. And that’ s something we’ re looking at here at Murdoch University. ■
Hopkins’ research was published in the journal Contemporary Nurse.
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