Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks

By David Tuller
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/08nurses.html?8dpc=&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1215485170-bUPSdh2paAscbStf83ayhg

Tuller's lead to his articles on the dangers of nursing is a story of a psychiatric nurse whose young son asked once asked her seriously if she was in danger at work. This lead is definitely to grab the reader's attention and draw them into article that turns out to be very statistic-orientated from that point forwards.

Tuller definitely does his research looking at studies of physical violence against nurses from several different states. But the article is a little too dry, and it would have been more effective for Tuller to tell more stories similar to the one he had in his lead to allow readers to understand better what all of his carefully selected statistics are saying: nursing is dangerous.

For example, one study he cites a 2006 survey by the Emergency Nurses Association who reported that 86 percent of nurses had experienced violence in the past three years and "a fifth" said they encounter it frequently. Well, how exactly is "violence" or "frequently" defined in this survey because the terms could vary significantly.

Tuller ends his article by quoting a psychiatric and emergency room nurse who gives a potential reason for violence against nurses. This sums up the article nicely because it gives a reason, rather than just a number, that nurses, who are there to help, end up become the focal point for violence from patients.