Nurses Raise Alarm Against Attacks at Work

People may be at their most human when in pain, but often turn their anguish on their would-be healers—and now nurses are calling on workplaces and lawmakers to be more vigilant against physical attacks, the New York Times reports. “Nurses are just starting to get to the place where they’re saying, ‘I don’t have to put up with this,’” said an expert.

Half of nonfatal injuries from attacks at work are connected to health care and social services, says a federal agency—and nurses face most of them. “I’ve been hit, I’ve been kicked and spit on. I’ve had a knife pulled on me. I love what I do, but I don’t love the conditions I work in,” says one. (More nurses stories.)