Dark eyes and black hair, a chipped tooth, a broken nose, a swollen lip. Anna Procida, a 30-year-old nurse, has clear signs of the assault she suffered while on duty at the San Leonardo Emergency Room on Wednesday evening. She was given a twenty-five-day prognosis and the shock of being beaten while performing her duties.
"I'm a monster with swollen lips, my face is all red and I'm angry," the woman told Mattino. What happened? "Usual everyday situations, four people were in a red code area near a patient. They couldn't be there and crowd the room so I asked them to leave and they started to insult and then to beat us." Who was she with? "With my younger sister Mariarosaria, also a nurse in the emergency room. We had just started the night shift, it was 8:30 pm, we were trying to organize the department by asking relatives in the rooms to move to the waiting room. A group near a patient started to rant."
What did they say to you? "They had been there since morning, they had to stay close to their relative and they wouldn't move. We insisted and they went from words to hands. My sister was attacked by a woman who pulled her hair and dragged her to the ground, I was taken outside by a man who put his hand on my shoulder saying "come with me" when we got to the door I turned around he punched me." Did she manage to escape? "I didn't have time, he kicked me while I was on the ground with a broken nose. The on-call doctor rescued and treated me while the police were arriving." How does she feel now? "I'm too angry, what happened to us is everyday life in the emergency room. A few nights before a colleague had his glasses broken. Violence by relatives has become a regular thing. We have been reporting for months that we work in inhumane conditions with enraged people that we can't manage. We have to ask permission to pass and even if we treat an emergency they stay there close to the relatives, we are forced to step over people crowding the emergency room." Has she already reported the incident? "For now the Asl has provided ex officio, I am finishing the medical reports and then I will go to the police station to formalize the complaint."
The concern
Will she return to service at San Leonardo? "Today I can't answer I'm too bitter. Right now I would say no, I wouldn't go back to the emergency room. And then I feel offended especially as a woman, I believe that mine is also a case of violence against women, that man didn't care that I was a girl, he hit me with all the strength he had and again, no one protects us. I'm so angry to have received such strong violence today that we talk so much about protecting women, the person who punched and kicked me is doubly guilty." Does she think her anger will pass? "I don't think so, today I'm disappointed. I can't think of anything else and how things went, no one listens to us, we are left to ourselves." Why did she choose to become a nurse? "It was a lifelong dream, but not like this. I never imagined working under these conditions. As soon as I graduated I started in a private clinic, then I was at Cardarelli and when I arrived at the hospital in my city I was happy. I have been at San Leonardo for three years and have had a permanent contract for a year."
Solidarity
"I want to express on behalf of the Regional Consultation for the condition of women full and strong solidarity and closeness to Anna Procida, the nurse of the emergency room of Castellammare attacked and beaten while performing her work. What happened is very serious. It is the umpteenth act of violence against those who take care of us and that cannot pass in silence. This undoubtedly requires, as many are asking these hours, a permanent and effective police presence inside the hospital and emergency room, and not only at San Leonardo. But that's not enough, it requires a responsibility and a more incisive legislative action - she underlines - Law 113/2020 concerning Safety provisions for health and socio-health professionals in the exercise of their functions has represented an important change of course because for the first time it has tried to deal with this problem, but does not provide specific commitments by the Health Companies and excludes them from any positive action and responsibility in protecting the employee. In particular, the recognition of public official for all health workers is needed." "I appeal to the parliamentarians elected in Campania - she continues - so that they work to improve and amend law 113 and formalize in a legislative act the recognition of public official for health workers, as already exists for other professions, even when the prognosis of the attacked is less than 25 days." "Introducing this rule - concludes Perrelli - would have an impact on both citizens, who would receive the clear, unequivocal message of respect that must be had for health workers and recognition of the social value of the role they play, and for operators who would see their constitutional function fully recognized by the State, that is, the protection of health expressed by Art. 32 of the Constitution."
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