About 100 nurses and midwives say they have been verbally abused or threatened with physical violence in their work at the Port Lincoln Hospital, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
Elizabeth Debars, chief executive at the union, said Port Augusta and Whyalla health services had security guards and she questioned why there are none at Port Lincoln Hospital.
"We know that doors were smashed in, in recent months, by a very, very heavy, 160-kilogram male who was completely out of control."
According to hospital staff, police officers were available, but could take up to 20 minutes to arrive on the scene of life-threatening situations.
The union has been campaigning to get Port Lincoln Hospital restraint-based security guards there since a nurse was brutally bashed in 2019.
Those victims have been represented on the Port Lincoln foreshore by symbols placed in the lawn.
The Eyre and Far North Local Health Network said "it continues to improve security, and that staff are trained to prevent and respond to challenging behaviour".
But nurses said a security guard would mean protection would be just seconds away.
"To this date, we find that completely perplexing and gobsmacking that there are none there, because the issues of violence and aggression continue," Ms Debars said.
Nurses feel unsafe
While most nurses were too scared to speak out using their full name, Ella Wedd was not.
"We don't want to lose nurses, we don't want to lose midwives, it shouldn't take a catastrophic event for action to be taken."
Ms Wedd said incidents were increasing with increased drug use, not just in her community but around Australia.
Andoria Watherston, a retired nurse from Port Lincoln Hospital, said she believed over three quarters of the staff at the hospital would feel unsafe.
She had also been threatened by physical and verbal abuse.
"I've had things thrown at me, anything from crockery, cutlery, to a chair," she said.
After 18 years, Ms Watherston said she had enough of the job, especially when she did not feel listened to by upper management.
She added that the threats had a flow on effect to the community with patients, kitchen staff, and cleaners also in danger.
Another nurse who did not want to be identified said she had also been threatened on multiple occasions.
"We had an incident … where it took six police officers to restrain a drug-induced psychosis patient," the nurse said.
She said the threats take a huge toll on medical staff, but many said they would stay as they were passionate about their jobs.
"You become very tired. You don't want to go to work. Some days, you feel like taking sick leave," the nurse said.
