‘Action Needed’ To Protect Nurses

Scotland’s nurses need better protection from violence and aggression, it has been warned. The Royal College of Nursing Scotland has launched a campaign to get MSPs and employers to tackle the problem.

The nursing union aims to make the issue a political priority before next year’s Scottish elections.

The RCN said a third of nurses would be physically attacked in the course of their career, impacting on them, their colleagues and their patients.

At its conference in Clydebank, the union will insist that staff have the right to expect their employers to take action against those who attack them.

It will also highlight reports of managers who try to dissuade nurses from reporting incidents.

Nursing leaders are also to call on all the political parties to make better protection of staff in the health service a priority.