ABSTRACT
Violence experienced by health care workers is something of a paradox. It is newsworthy that doctors and nurses have to deal with aggression and violence at work, in hospital and in the community. The incidence of violence within health care has spread from the traditionally high risk areas to those of the general practitioner’s surgery and the community. Part of the function of psychiatric settings is the control and containment of disturbed patients who may become aggressive under certain circumstances. The majority of incidents occurred as a result of the interaction of a number of factors related to the environment, the staff member, the perpetrator, and the interaction between them. Much of the violence occurring in health care settings happens publicly and is witnessed by other staff. Those incidents which happen in private become public through rumour and the awareness that staff members may be off sick, or have left work.
