After the mother of a hospitalized child physically assaulted one of our paediatric residents, we decided to investigate the prevalence of workplace violence in paediatric training programmes. In 2007, "we conducted a survey of paediatric residents in the United States about their experience with verbal and/ or physical abuse while on duty. More than one-third (33%) of the respondents had been verbally abused or physically assaulted by patients and/or patients' families during their residency programme, although verbal abuse was much more common than physical assaults. Typically, more than one hospital staff member (including nurses, other residents, medical students and ancillary staff) was involved in the incident demonstrating that this problem affects many members of the healthcare team.
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