Serious assaults against healthcare workers double in a decade: report
About two healthcare workers are hospitalised each day as a result of injuries on the job, the AIHW report shows.
Patients are increasingly lashing out at healthcare workers, with the rate of hospitalisations following an assault doubling over the past decade.
New AIHW data released this week show that overall there were 7416 injuries serious enough to require hospitalisation among healthcare workers between 2015/16 and 2024/25.
Over that period, the rate of hospitalisation among health workers following an assault rose from 4.3 to 8.1 per 100,000, with assault becoming the second most common cause of workplace injury after falls.
Teaghanne Sarina, a mental health nurse, says she was kicked in the chest by a patient one night on a hospital ward, but instead of going home, she finished her shift.
