{"id":944604,"date":"2026-05-07T21:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944604\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:18:20","slug":"psychiatrist-assault-and-nurse-attack-spark-call-to-track-violence-in-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944604\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychiatrist assault and nurse attack spark call to track violence in healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"

The experiences of the two workers and others who\u2019ve also been victims of violence while working should never be normalised, Strawbridge, Money and Ng wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet it may be tolerated or expected by healthcare staff when working with disturbed or distressed patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nurse, whose attack took place in the top of the South Island<\/a> in 2009, described its impact on her life as \u201ccatastrophic\u201d, with trauma \u201cfar beyond the obvious physical injuries\u201d and spreading to her husband, children, wider family and colleagues.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe nurse told the report’s authors she felt \u201cobliged to accept a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to get more intensive psychological help\u201d. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n

\u201cIt dismantled the very fabric of my life. It contributed to the breakdown of my 25-year marriage, the loss of my job and my home and, most painfully, my sense of self \u2026 I went from being a respected colleague and clinician to being defined as a victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conflicting protocols and practices between the health and justice ministries<\/a> left her without clear rights or protections, and she was \u201cobliged to accept a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to get more intensive psychological help\u201d.<\/p>\n

This left her unable to access certain work options, income protection insurance or travel insurance, the woman told the report authors.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t feel listened to or supported by her managers after returning to work, worsening her \u201csense of not being heard, invisibility and disempowerment\u201d during what was an already traumatic time as a victim going through the legal process.<\/p>\n

\"GovernmentGovernment chief victims\u2019 advisor Ruth Money was one of three authors behind a report into workplace violence against healthcare workers. <\/p>\n

The psychiatrist, who was attacked this decade in Auckland<\/a>, told the report authors she\u2019d reflected on her initial minimisation of the incident.<\/p>\n

She later learned colleagues had also been attacked on the job, including by the same person who punched her.<\/p>\n

Initially believing she was uninjured, the psychiatrist was later diagnosed with delayed concussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn retrospect, I should have left the workplace immediately and sent my affected team members home. <\/p>\n

\u201dMy questions: How do we model self-care? How many of my colleagues had sustained injuries and not sought care? Who took time off work to recover? <\/p>\n

\u201cHow many consulted their general practitioner to complete an insurance claim? What environmental protections are in place to protect workers?\u201d<\/p>\n

The report authors recommended a nationwide approach to data on workplace violence against healthcare workers, and more research on the consequences of workplace violence.<\/p>\n

They also called for strengthening health and safety legislation to clarify the responsibilities of individuals and organisations in identifying and managing risks, and monitoring violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The experiences of the two workers and others who\u2019ve also been victims of violence while working should never…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[5176,34744,11413,22055,23364,110402,16868,263783,41527,30973,258342,31954,225256,263778,13200,46266,80344,21003,105,4348,144455,51545,256,6582,263779,44234,47333,7400,28746,43002,4800,263781,263780,90487,6093,26339,11490,16,15,8520,7765,263782],"class_list":{"0":"post-944604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-assault","10":"tag-attack","11":"tag-attacked","12":"tag-before","13":"tag-beginning","14":"tag-body","15":"tag-bruising","16":"tag-burns","17":"tag-call","18":"tag-captive","19":"tag-damage","20":"tag-described","21":"tag-escaping","22":"tag-experience","23":"tag-facial","24":"tag-fractures","25":"tag-from","26":"tag-health","27":"tag-healthcare","28":"tag-held","29":"tag-her","30":"tag-in","31":"tag-just","32":"tag-kill","33":"tag-minutes","34":"tag-nerve","35":"tag-nurse","36":"tag-patient","37":"tag-psychiatrist","38":"tag-spark","39":"tag-stab","40":"tag-suffered","41":"tag-threatening","42":"tag-to","43":"tag-track","44":"tag-trauma","45":"tag-uk","46":"tag-united-kingdom","47":"tag-violence","48":"tag-what","49":"tag-wounds"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}