Majority of nursing staff have experienced sexual harassment at work, survey shows

Three in five nurses (60%) have experienced sexual harassment at work, according to a survey published today (Thursday) by UNISON and Nursing Times. More than 2,000 nursing staff and students took part in the research, which shows that ​incidents ​of sexual harassment are almost commonplace, with staff targeted by patients, family and friends of those in their care, and their own health colleagues. Some said they were expected to put up with abusive behaviour because it ​was seen as “just part of the job”, while a number described it happening so frequently that it ha​d become “normal”. For many, these were far from one-off incidents. As many as one in nine (11%) said they often encountered such experiences and a fifth (21%) reported occasional harassment. Of those who had been harassed, only around a quarter (27%) had reported it to their employer. ​Others said they didn’t believe the issue ​was taken seriously and a third (35%) said not enough was being done to protect them from incidents in the workplace. The most common harassment was verbal and encountered by more than half (56%) of all who took part in the survey, including comments about appearance, questions about private lives or inappropriate jokes. More than a third (37%) had experienced physical incidents, including being groped by patients during procedures and having their bodies touched by colleagues. Almost three in five (58%) of those who had been harassed said it was by a patient, a...
Source: UNISON Health and safety news - Category: Occupational Health Authors: Tags: News Press release nurses sexual harassment Source Type: news