Furthermore, some of the nurses who recorded never assaulted on the demographic form (and were therefore not counted in the frequency of assault statistics) informed the researcher that thy had, in face, experienced incidents, including hair pulling, being spit at, or having coffec thrown at them, among other aggressive behaviors. These nurses checked the never assaulted box despite the operational definition of assault that included these acts, which were printed in bold type and in capital lettes directly above the item. When asked why they did not consider themselves assaulted, many responded that these behaviors form psychiatric patients are accepted, and if no injuly results, they are not considered as assault.