Chicago—Every year in the United States, at least one physician is killed by a patient.
Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals rank fourth—just below taxicab drivers, convenience store clerks, and police—in likelihood of being killed in the workplace.
Eighty percent of nurses report being assaulted on the job at least once in their careers, the highest rate for any occupational group.
Residents of the United States own more than 200 million guns. Firearm injuries caused more than 32,000 deaths in this country in 1997 (the most recent figures available). An additional 64,000 persons were injured by guns that year and survived (Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999;48:1029-1033).
These sobering statistics helped fuel a forum on strategies to ensure practitioner safety and other psychiatric aspects of violence at the annual meeting here of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
The American public increasingly views violence as a serious . . . [Full Text of this Article]
