Violence and remote area nursing.
The Federal government and others have accepted that violence is a problem in rural and remote communities across Australia. The issue of personal safety for Remote Area Nurses (RANs) living in remote areas has been mentioned in a number of State and Regional reports. However, to the knowledge of this research group, no systematic attempt to gather data on the incidence of violence experienced by RANs and other remote health workers has occurred. This study aims to redress the lack of data on the experience and description of violence against remote area nurses. Results indicate that remote area nurses are living with frequent threats to their personal safety while on duty, on call and off duty, and that violent incidents are often handled badly by employers, the community and remote area nurses themselves. Twenty-four-hour call is an employment requirement for 82% of respondents. Those required to be on call 24 hours experience episodes of violence more frequently. Despite nearly all of the respondents experiencing episodes of violence within the 12 months prior to the study, there was a tendency for remote area nurses, except in the case of physical violence, to perceive both the frequency and the severity of their experiences with violence as low and not personally directed.
Fisher
J
J
Faculty of Health Science, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia.
Bradshaw
J
J
Currie
B A
BA
Klotz
J
J
Robins
P
P
Searle
K R
KR
Smith
J
J
D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015876:Northern Territory; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012449:Safety; D014754:Violence