Original Research: Patient-to-Nurse Violence During One-to-One Assignments: A Silent Epidemic.

Background: Nurses and nursing assistants given one-to-one ("sitter") assignments are placed with one patient for long periods of time. Some of these patients require a sitter for reasons that include dementia, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric disturbances such as delirium, and risk of self-harm. Some may become verbally abusive, physically violent, or both, putting the assigned staff member in danger.