The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said that hospitals must do more to protect staff from assault in the workplace and to properly support them after any assault.
The union's annual conference heard that cutbacks and pressures in the health service have resulted in an increasing level of anger and aggression from some health service users.
Delegates have called for more support from the HSE for nurses who suffer workplace assault or injury.
Some delegates said that when they reported an incident, nothing more was heard.
Anne Burke, an emergency department nurse, told the conference that staff are left with the lifelong consequences of physical and verbal assaults.
She said that nurses were not 'punchbags' and assaults were not acceptable.
The conference has passed motions calling on employers to meet their legal duty of care and to ensure nurses can avail of their rights and entitlements.
The conference ends today.
