Themes that emerged among the female nurses were : (a) assault is to be expected; (b) incidents were often not reported for fear of administrative repisal; (c) assaulted nurse perceive that thay are often blamed by management and sometimes by colleaes; (d) assaulted nurses often questioned their own compentency; and (e) the psychological and emotional trauma is often more lasting then the physical effects. The data that supported identification of the themse in the female nurses responses are reported below