Nurses – De-Escalation Training

Yes — assault-related hospitalisations among Australian healthcare workers have climbed from 49 in 2015–16 to 126 in 2024–25, with assault now the second leading cause of injury hospitalisation for healthcare workers nationally, behind only falls.

Every day there are more and more stories of violence in the media. It seems we can’t switch on the TV or radio, scroll through Facebook, or trawl our favourite news sources without coming across a tragic tale of an innocent person being assaulted for no reason. The increasing stresses of everyday life, the rising incidence of drug and alcohol abuse, and the fact that many people appear to be on a shorter fuse make aggressive altercations almost commonplace.

Workplace violence, unfortunately, is on the rise in healthcare specifically. The Australian College of Nursing and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation — representing over 356,000 nurses, midwives and carers — have called for urgent action, noting that nurses, midwives and personal care workers continue to be attacked, abused and intimidated in their workplaces, causing significant physical and psychological harm.

There are many situations in which nurses are extremely vulnerable. Angry or out of control patients and relatives can cause problems. Long waits in emergency rooms and low staffing levels can cause tempers to run high. Inadequate security measures such as broken locks, few or no security guards, and poorly lit car parks expose nurses to potential harm. And of course, the presence of drugs and weapons make a hospital an unpredictable and high-risk environment.