Over 4,016 nurses were assaulted between January 2023-February 2024 according to new figures obtained by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
On Worker’s Memorial Day we remember colleagues who died while going to work. One death in the workplace is one too many.
This day is also a day to reflect on how we can limit the number of injuries in the workplace. Far too many nurses and midwives are assaulted in the workplace, over 4,106 nurses were verbally, physically or sexually assaulted in their workplace last year. We know that this is a conservative figure as many nurses and midwives do not report these incidents, not indeed do their employers.
The HSE as an employer needs to radically shift its focus when it comes to the safety of its employees. Our members, the majority of whom are women, need to know that they can go about very difficult jobs of treating patients in a safe manner without having to worry about their own safety. Too many of our members have had career-ending or career-changing incidents happen to them in the line of their work through no fault of their own. Far too often it is the overcrowded conditions that they are working in that is to blame.
It is imperative that each hospital reflects on its own security arrangements and what they are doing to keep nurses, midwives and other frontline healthcare workers safe while at work.
We welcome the positive response to our request to establish an advisory division for health and social care services within the Health and Safety Authority. Our expectations are high and we will work with the HSA to ensure it has the same transformative impact on healthcare worker safety as it has had in the construction and farming sectors.