One nurse, who did not want to be named, told BBC Radio Berkshire about an incident while she was working at the Reading hospital during the Covid pandemic.
As she recorded her observations of a patient on a staff computer, she felt a sharp pain in her back.
“I must have let out a scream because a lot of my colleagues came running down from outside of the ward to see what was happening,” she said.
“I just remember saying something like ‘oh my god, what are you doing?’ Even now I’m still emotional [talking about it].
“The patient continued to lash out on the ward and they got security. The management came up and I was checked out.
“Thank God I changed my uniform from thin scrubs to one with a double pleat at the back. That is what saved me from having further injury.”
Ange Forster, the trust’s director of nursing for urgent care, said the attacks made her feel “very sad”.
“You never come to work anticipating that you will be unsafe,” she added.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are working closely with NHS England as they take action to prevent and reduce violence against staff, including through body-worn camera trials and a national violence prevention hub to ensure NHS staff can work in a safe environment.”
