Erickson L, Williams-Evans S A
J Emerg Nurs. 2000 Jun;26(3):210-5. doi: 10.1016/s0099-1767(00)90092-8.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of patient assaults on emergency nurses and to explore nurses' attitudes about patient assaults.
A convenience sample of ED nurses (N = 55) from 2 hospitals in the mid-south region of the United States was used. All subjects completed a 31-item questionnaire that assessed frequency of assaults and attitudes about patient assaults.
Eighty-two percent of nurses surveyed had been assaulted during their careers. In the preceding year, 56% of nurses had been assaulted; 29% of these assaults were unreported. The majority of nurses (73%) believed that being assaulted "goes with the job." Only 2 nurses (3.6%) felt safe from the possibility of patient assault at work "all of the time."
The high rate of patient assault and the subsequent underreporting of patient assault identified in our study are consistent with rates reported by other researchers. It is alarming that, although many of these other studies were conducted 10 or more years ago, the assault rates are nearly the same. Of the 45 nurses in this study who had been the victim of patient assaults, only 9 believed that reporting their assaults had been beneficial. Lack of support for nursing, whether it be from other nurses, management, the institution, or society, appears to be responsible for the vast underreporting of patient assaults. Nurses themselves are also unsure of how to proceed. Whereas 91% of the surveyed nurses stated that they believed they had a right to take legal action against an assaultive patient, only 65% stated that it was ethically appropriate and even less (33%) stated that they would actually press charges against an assaultive patient.
本研究旨在调查患者袭击急诊护士的频率，并探讨护士对患者袭击的态度。
采用便利抽样法，选取了美国中南部地区两家医院的急诊护士（N = 55）。所有受试者均完成了一份包含31个条目的问卷，该问卷评估了袭击频率以及对患者袭击的态度。
接受调查的护士中有82%在其职业生涯中曾遭到袭击。在前一年，56%的护士遭到了袭击；其中29%的袭击未被上报。大多数护士（73%）认为遭到袭击“是工作的一部分”。只有2名护士（3.6%）觉得自己在工作时“始终”不会有遭到患者袭击的风险。
我们的研究中所发现的患者袭击发生率高以及随后对患者袭击的低上报率，与其他研究人员报告的发生率一致。令人担忧的是，尽管许多其他研究是在10年或更久之前进行的，但袭击发生率几乎相同。在本研究中曾遭受患者袭击的45名护士中，只有9人认为上报袭击事件是有益的。无论是来自其他护士、管理层、机构还是社会，对护理工作缺乏支持似乎是患者袭击事件大量未被上报的原因。护士自身也不确定该如何处理。尽管91%的受访护士表示他们认为自己有权对具有攻击性的患者采取法律行动，但只有65%的人表示从伦理角度看是合适的，甚至更少（33%）的人表示他们实际上会对具有攻击性的患者提出指控。
