title: Violence, aggression and physical assault in healthcare settings.
abstract: All healthcare professionals are at risk from violent and aggressive patients, however, it has been found that nurses are at particular risk. The actual incidence is difficult to determine because the definition of what constitutes a physical assault or a violent event is vague. This article considers how the terms violence, aggression and physical assault are conceptualised in the healthcare setting and suggests that nursing staff need to identify and act on any incident that compromises their personal safety.
authors.affiliation: University of Greenwich, School of Health and Social Care, Department of Acute and Continuing Care, London. T.Ferns@gre.ac.uk
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ferns
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D015982:Bias; D006801:Humans; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000458:organization & administration; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012107:Research Design; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012637:Security Measures / Q000458:organization & administration; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration*