Self Defence Training

Self Defence Training for Nurses

You'd think that people trained to help others would be some of the last people who need self defence training, but the fact is that nurses need to learn self defense more than almost any other profession! We're not necessarily talking huge amounts of combat self defense like Sambo or 'hard' martial arts self defense like Shotokan Karate, just basic self defense training.

In the healthcare industry, workplace violence has hit an all-time high, with the average nurse being assaulted three times every year, and few facilities are doing much about it.

Finally, in the past year or so, administrators are reevaluating their policies about workplace violence. When it came out that nurses are the third-most-assaulted non-security personnel in the country, everyone realized it was time for self defence training.

Complicating it all is the fact that the nurses are most often assaulted by their own patients, so aggressive 'combat' self defense or the more street-level martial arts self defense techniques are absolutely inappropriate. They have to protect themselves without hurting their attackers -- a tough thing to do under any circumstances.

Many industry leaders are looking into what they call 'tactical' self defense training. With this kind of policy, nurses would learn self defense strategies that avoid confrontation, rather than defeat opponents. Such measures concentrate on strategic positioning and escape routes, and on defusing violence with vocal control and body language. That kind of self defense training is good, but it's only the first half of a real self defense course.

Nurses need to invest a bit of time and energy into learning 'soft' martial arts self defense styles. There are plenty of styles like Aikido that concentrate on redirecting and deflecting the attacker's energies. Nurses who need to learn self defense should study these styles after they finish their 'tactical' self defense course.

Truth be told, combat self defense classes have their place even in an environment like a hospital -- not because we want nurses who can kick their patient's butts, but because the more hardcore self defense classes can quickly impart a level of confidence and spirit that can take a softer class a much longer time to convey. In an ideal situation, a nurse would get a bit of exposure to all three -- tactical, soft, and hard self defense classes -- in order to be able to handle the widest variety of situations.

Hospitals and other medical institutions cannot be entirely responsible for every nurses' well-being, and their decision by and large to go with tactical self defence training is borne of a desire to avoid even further troubles of the legal variety. So if you're a nurse, you really should consider pursuing your own self defense class outside of whatever your workplace offers.

There are a wide variety of options available to you, but at the absolute minimum, you should try out a self defense DVD or handbook. You can get them through the mail, you don't need to invest a lot, and a little self defence training can really give you a hand up on your more aggressive patients.