Recognising, responding and resisting violence : a critical challenge for nurses.

Whether or not we are directly affected by a particular act of violence, its indirect impact on our lives is profound. Although anyone can be confronted by violence anywhere and anytime, nurses encounter violence and its effects in their day-to-day work perhaps more than any other occupational group. Not only do they experience violence and aggression through their work, it is often their role to help repair the broken bodies and heal the spirits of those experiencing violence and those who care for them.