References
An investigation of violence sustained by nursing and midwifery students
Abstract
Background:
Many laws exist that protect healthcare personnel from violence within the workplace. Evidence suggests that violence towards nursing students continues and remains unreported. These incidents have been proven to have psychological effects.
Aims:
The aim of the study was to identify the extent, type and impact of violence and aggression sustained by nursing and midwifery students.
Methods:
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was employed in a UK university to investigate the violence and aggression experienced by 369 preregistration nursing and midwifery students.
Findings:
More than half (n=202; 54.7%) of students reported sustaining violence or aggression during their current academic year. This included verbal (n=190; 94.1%), physical (n=96; 47.5%) and sexual (n=24; 11.9%) violence and aggression. Many psychological effects were sustained, including anxiety, loss of confidence and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Conclusions:
A climate of non-tolerance of violence and aggression within healthcare organisations needs to become the norm to protect healthcare workers and nursing and midwifery students. Future research should concentrate on underexplored areas, such as whether violence or aggression affects student attrition rates, career choices, and recruitment to nursing and midwifery programmes.
The Health and Safety Executive (2025) defines work-related violence as any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work. Employers have a duty of care to protect staff from threats and violence in the workplace, with several pieces of legislation covering violence and aggression at work (Box 1).
These laws are intended to identify hazards and assess and mitigate risk, via interventions such as training, reporting of incidents and support for workers. The Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard (NHS England, 2020a) and the NHS People Plan (NHS England, 2020b) were both introduced with an aim of supporting healthcare staff to work in a safe environment while safeguarding them from abuse, aggression and violence.
Despite these legislations and guidance, violence and aggression towards nursing students continues. Prevalence rates for unspecified types of violence or aggression sustained by nursing students range from 16.1% (n=101) (Garcia-Gamez et al, 2020) to 100% (n=126) (Hinchberger, 2009). Nursing students also commonly witness violence or aggression within their clinical placements (Hallett et al, 2021). This includes verbal (Celik and Bayraktar, 2004), physical (Hunter et al, 2022) and sexual (Hallett et al, 2021) violence and aggression.
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