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Answering objections · Culture

How to answer “Violence just comes with the job here”

Health policy and work health and safety law both say violence is not part of the job, and the employer has a duty to prevent it. Believing otherwise is what keeps most incidents unreported. Aggression from unwell patients is real, but much of it can be prevented, and preventing it is part of good care.

By William Coleman, Director · Updated
An experienced nurse and a younger colleague talking quietly on a bench in a hospital courtyard garden

This objection is rarely said in a meeting about budgets. It comes up on the ward, in handover and sometimes from senior staff who have worked in mental health or emergency for decades and learnt to cope. It deserves a respectful answer, because it usually comes from experience, not indifference.

Who says it, and why?

Usually people who have been hurt before and kept going. “It comes with the job” can be a way of coping, a sign that reporting never led to change, or a belief that unwell patients can’t be held responsible. Each of those is understandable. None of them makes the risk acceptable, and the business case needs to say so.

What do policy and law actually say?

That violence is not part of the job, and preventing it is the employer’s duty.

  • NSW Health’s zero tolerance policy says putting up with violence “is NOT an acceptable part of the job” (PD2015_001).
  • The nurses’ union in Victoria says occupational violence and aggression “is not ‘part of the job’” (ANMF Vic).
  • Under work health and safety law, the employer has the primary duty of care for workers’ health and safety (model WHS Act, s 19), and the regulations name workplace violence and aggression as a psychosocial hazard to eliminate or minimise (psychosocial hazards code, 2022).

The full values case, including staff rights and a zero tolerance statement you can adapt, is in Part 1.

What about “but the patients are unwell”?

Zero tolerance is of violence, not of people. Care still has to be provided, and NSW Health’s policy says so. The point is that much aggression is predictable and preventable: it builds from distress, pain, confusion, waiting, bad news and the flashpoints of ward life, such as refused requests or a change of routine. That is what de-escalation and Safewards are designed to address. In a UK randomised trial, wards using Safewards had 15% less conflict and about a quarter less containment (Bowers et al. 2015).

Prevention is good care, not only staff protection. Every escalation that is defused is one where neither the patient nor the nurse is hurt, and where restraint or seclusion isn’t needed. Framed this way, the case appeals to clinicians’ values as much as to their safety.

What does treating violence as normal cost?

  • Incidents go unreported. Only about a quarter of NSW nurses report every incident, and fewer than 2 in 10 of those who reported believed anything was done (NSWNMA, 2026). The service can’t control a risk it can’t see.
  • Staff carry the cost. After a violent incident, 28.4% of NSW nurses used their own personal leave, and only 6.5% claimed workers’ compensation (NSWNMA, 2026).
  • It happens every day. WA Department of Health figures released in April 2026 averaged 12 physical violence and aggression incidents a day in 2025 (HSUWA), and about 80% of Queensland nurses and midwives surveyed in 2026 had experienced workplace violence in the past year (QNMU, via ABC).
  • The harm is getting worse. Health workers hospitalised by assault rose from 49 to 126 a year between 2015-16 and 2024-25 (AIHW data, via ACN and ANMF, 2026).

How do you answer it?

What you can say“You’ve kept going through a lot, and that shouldn’t have been the deal. Our policy and the law both say violence isn’t part of the job. Most of it can be prevented, and preventing it means fewer patients restrained as well as fewer of us hurt.”
What to avoidBlaming patients, or implying staff who have been hurt did something wrong. Keep the focus on what the service can change.

Other objections you might hear

“There’s no budget for it this year” You are already paying for violence in claims and backfill. The question is where the money comes from, not whether it exists. “Where’s the evidence it works? What’s the ROI” Strong in mental health, promising in emergency departments, unproven on general wards, and no one has a proven ROI. Say so, then offer to measure it locally. “We already do mandatory training” Completion isn’t competence. Regulators now say training on its own isn’t enough, and WA’s new Standard sets what the training must contain. “We can’t release staff for training” Set the hours of training against the hours violence already takes: restraint episodes, sick leave and months of backfill. “More security is the answer” Security is part of the answer, not all of it. Security staff need the same de-escalation skills, and clinicians lead the response.

All six on one page: answering objections to violence prevention training. To build the case from the start, begin with Part 1, the values case, or go straight to Part 2, the financial case.

Frequently asked questions

Is violence part of the job for nurses?

No. NSW Health’s zero tolerance policy says putting up with violence is not an acceptable part of the job, the nurses’ union in Victoria says the same, and WHS law gives employers the duty to eliminate or minimise the risk, so far as is reasonably practicable.

What about patients who are aggressive because they are unwell?

Zero tolerance is of violence, not of people, and care still has to be provided. Much aggression comes from distress, illness and flashpoints in the care environment, which is exactly what prevention and de-escalation target. A Safewards trial found 15% less conflict on wards using it.

Why does it matter if staff think violence is normal?

Because they stop reporting it. Only about a quarter of NSW nurses report every violent incident, so the service can’t see the risk it is required to control, and the cost shifts onto staff through their own sick leave.

Sources

  1. NSW Health, PD2015_001 Preventing and Managing Violence in the NSW Health Workplace: A Zero Tolerance Approach
  2. ANMF (Victorian Branch), Prevention of occupational violence and aggression policy
  3. Safe Work Australia, model WHS laws
  4. Clayton Utz, Safe Work Australia finalises code of practice for psychosocial hazards (2022)
  5. NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, Occupational Violence Report 2026
  6. NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, report media release (2026)
  7. ACN and ANMF, assault hospitalisations of health workers (AIHW data), July 2026
  8. HSUWA, WA Health violence and aggression figures (April 2026)
  9. ABC News, QNMU workplace violence survey (August 2026)
  10. Bowers et al. 2015, Safewards cluster randomised controlled trial

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