More than six out of ten nurses are abused

The survey for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also found 11 per cent had been the victim of physical abuse.

Some 16 per cent of the more than 760 nurses questioned said their employer would not take action on verbal abuse, while a further 33 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed.

And six per cent felt their employer would fail to take action on physical abuse, while a further 21 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed. Almost four in 10 (39 per cent) nurses felt that the risks to lone workers had increased over the past two years.

Reasons included the expectations of patients (73 per cent) and their relatives/carers (84 per cent) as well as an increase in caseloads for nurses (71 per cent).

More than a third (37 per cent) said the level of substance abuse among patients had also increased. The poll further found that 55 per cent of nurses were working outside normal office hours and felt less safe as a result.

RCN chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: “I am utterly appalled that nurses continue to be subjected to violence.

“No-one goes to work expecting to be assaulted and this is all the more upsetting when we consider nurses are being attacked when they are trying to help people.

“While it is not surprising that respondents felt their employer would be more likely to take action as a result of physical rather than verbal abuse, it is still unacceptable it should have to come to a nurse suffering physical violence before something is done.”

Almost nine out of 10 nurses said that their employer had a lone worker policy in place and most had been given a copy.

Dr Carter added: “It is somewhat encouraging that nearly 90 per cent of employers have a lone worker policy in place, but it is concerning that some nurses feel this is nothing more than a tick box exercise. A lack of funding is not an excuse for ignoring the risks faced by lone working nurses.”