QNU submission to the Law, Justice and Safety Committee Qld Parliament in response to the Alcohol-Related Violence Inquiry
Published: 28 October 2009
The Queensland Nurses’ Union (QNU) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the inquiry into alcohol-related violence. Our submission addresses the relevant sections of the Issues Paper highlighting our particular concerns for our members who are prominent amongst the health workers in the front line of alcohol related violence.
Nurses are exposed to alcohol related violence in two ways. They treat those who are affected by excessive alcohol consumption or who are the victims of alcohol related violence and abuse. In turn, they can themselves become the target of the intoxicated individuals they seek to help.
In this submission, we initially provide information on the QNU followed by a review of some of the recent literature on alcohol related violence and its effects on nurses. Nurses in general tolerate a great deal from the community they serve. Our submission includes three case studies. Two of the cases involve nurses who have ongoing injuries as a result of assault by an intoxicated individual presenting at the hospital. In the third case we present the story of an Emergency Department (ED) nurse who works in a large public hospital in Queensland. These are just three instances that we have chosen to highlight for this submission, but there are many more. We believe these stories give a glimpse into the working lives of nurses who face the front line of alcohol related violence.
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