Over 4,000 nurses and midwives assaulted in Irish hospitals in last 14 months
Figures obtained by the INMO show 'far too many nurses and midwives are assaulted in the workplace'
Over 4,000 nurses and midwives have been assaulted while working in Irish hospitals in the last 14 months.
According to new figures obtained by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), 4,016 nursing staff were assaulted between January 2023 and February 2024.
"We know that this is a conservative figure as many nurses and midwives do not report these incidents, nor indeed do their employers," INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said.
"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."
The figures, which were obtained by the INMO via a Freedom of Information Request, show that on average, 287 nurses and midwives were assaulted each month.
The highest month in the reported period was March 2023, with 338 nurses and midwives reporting an assault in the work place.
The INMO have called on 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," Ms Ní Sheaghdha said.
"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."
The INMO have welcomed "the positive response to our request to establish an advisory division for health and social care services within the Health and Safety Authority", but say their expectations are high that the HSA ensure "it has the same transformative impact on healthcare worker safety as it has had in the construction and farming sectors."