Sixty-two percent of nurses said the assaults were verbal, while 37% were victims of both verbal and physical violence, the Chamber said in a press release on Tuesday.
Over the past five years, assaults on nurses happened in 73% of the medical institutions that took part in the survey. The findings show that patients were violent in 77% of cases, while their family or someone accompanying them were violent in 56% of cases.
It is worrying that 63% of nurses did not report the violence, most often citing fear of more problems. Of the 37% of nurses who reported it, over 90% did so to the employer and only 22% to the police, union, court or the Chamber.
The findings show that the violence affects the nurses who suffered it, with 66% feeling occasional or constant fear of violence, while 5% were forced to go on sick leave.
"The main reason for the survey was the rising problem of violence against nurses which can escalate to the point of endangering their lives. The Chamber wishes to point to the depth of the problem and the necessity of dealing with it systematically," said Chamber president Slava Sepec.