Students’ experiences of violence in clinical settings: what senior nurses can do

Healthcare workers are often the target of aggression, but nursing students on placements are vulnerable too

Violence and aggression cause significant problems for healthcare staff working in a range of settings. Findings from a meta-analysis suggest that 44% of nurses have experienced violence in the previous six months (Spector et al 2014).

Verbal abuse is the most commonly experienced type of aggression across all healthcare settings (Edward et al 2014) while physical aggression is most prevalent in mental health settings (Shiao et al 2010), although emergency department staff also experience high levels of physical assault (Gates et al 2011). Patients are most likely to be the perpetrators of aggression and nursing staff experience high levels of aggression (Campbell et al 2011).

Effects on students

There is a large body of evidence describing staff experiences of aggression but the extent