Hospital urged to protect against violence

from Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe

BROCKTON — In the last year, a nurse at Brockton Hospital was kicked to the floor and beaten by a patient, officials said. Other nurses have had their hair pulled. One was punched in the face, and another was threatened with a knife.

“To me, that’s a serious problem,” said Kathy Metzger, head of the local chapter of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. She said police have charged patients with serious assaults on hospital staff before.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration looked at the hospital after nurses complained earlier this year.

Read the article