Psychiatric nurses experienced 47 per cent more assaults by patients last year compared with 2001, a survey has found. Tomorrow, the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) is expected to agree to hold a ballot for industrial action over the Government's failure to put a compensation scheme in place for assault victims.
The types of assaults experienced included fractures of noses, hands, fingers and an eye socket, according to the PNA survey. Nurses reported being stabbed, bit, headbutted, groped and kicked. They were attacked with weapons such as fire extinguishers, a pool cue, blood-filled syringes and a crutch.
Hot tea and other fluids were thrown at nurses' faces. Back-injuries were sustained due to assaults and due to intervening between fighting clients. Some nurses had their teeth knocked out, while others were threatened and told they would be stabbed.
Some 1,257 assaults were reported to the PNA last year. Nurses at St Otteran's Hospital in Waterford reported 130 assaults, while 108 were reported by staff in St John of God's Hospital, Dublin. Nurses at St Ita's Hospital in Portrane reported 100 assaults.
More than 140 nurses needed more than three days of sick leave to recover. Since the last survey in 2001, 12 nurses have retired prematurely following an assault.
Des Kavanagh, PNA general secretary, said the figures could be much higher as many assaults were never reported. Some nurses felt it would be a sign of weakness if they complained. "There is also evidence to suggest that nurses fail to report due to the time-consuming and cumbersome nature of the reporting systems or the lack of agreement on what constitutes an assault."
Mr Kavanagh said the greatest number of assaults came from people with a drug addiction combined with a mental illness or intellectual disability.
In 2003, a task force recommended a compensation scheme and a package of measures to protect nurses but it has never been implemented. Mr Kavanagh said the Government was breaching the terms of the Sustaining Progress deal by refusing to introduce the compensation package.
The PNA annual conference opens in Cavan tomorrow and will hold a debate on the survey. A motion calling for a ballot on industrial action will be held.
"The outcome of the debate is predictable," Mr Kavanagh said. "The members of this union are sick and tired of broken promises by Government, abject failure by employers, and the continuing deterioration in the safety of our workplaces."
