The Royal College of Nursing (UK) recently found that 52 percent of British nurses that sometimes work alone feel more at risk because of it. Is this fear legitimate? Do any of you work alone, and if so do you feel at greater risk of assault?

I guess I was referring to nursing specifically. Has anyone ever felt threatened by their patients?

It certainly is. In regards to personal safety I worked with a nurse who was tiny. Probably 4'11 and we had a guy on the unit (who should not have been there in the first place) who was like 6'7 and he went off the wall and she was really hurt. She was alone with just one CNA for backup. In regards to the unit its dangerous because you don't have someone to check meds with...insulin doses or morphine doses. I like to be able to bounce things off another nurse if I need to. I worked a unit were I had 3 emergencies simultaneously. Don't ask me how I got through that. Its rare outside an ER but it happens. That was one of the worst nights of my life. Plus it's tough to get through a med pass or wound rounds if you're passing med on 40 people. You don't get to spend the time you want to with your patients either. So yes, being alone is dangerous. Especially as a new grad. You need the guidance and suppport. =)

I worked on a small (11 bed) pediatric unit where sometimes we'd only have 1 or 2 patients. Of course according to the grid, this only called for one nurse. However, it felt very unsafe. You never know when a patient is going to go bad and it's certainly not always the one you might expect. The other problem is that you are totally away from everything while you are in you are in a patients room. This includes other patients, door bell (closed unit), phone calls, etc. I never felt physically unsafe, but I certainly felt there were times when the patients weren't receiving the best care.