Attack on the nurse at the Lev Hasharon Mental Health Hospital:
The nurse who was attacked by a patient is Tali Friedman, who has been working in the closed ward at the hospital since February this year.
Friedman, 34, married and a mother of two, a resident of Pardesiya, had previously worked for six years at the Shalvata Mental Health Hospital.
The tragic incident occurred on Monday this week, during which a patient attacked Friedman, bit her and pulled her hair tightly.
"This is a patient we know and has a history of violence," Friedman says in a conversation with Israel Today, detailing the chain of events.
"She had a violent incident even before the incident, following which she had to receive treatment - a sedative shot. I asked one of the brothers to be present with me. And due to lack of manpower, he was not available."
"The same patient voluntarily stood in front of the room and waited to receive the treatment. Before I brought her into the room I asked her if I could trust her and if she undertook not to hurt me," Friedman said.
"I asked if we should have another brother with us. It was a butt shot and I wanted her to be comfortable. It is not pleasant when there is another man in the room in this situation. She said she did not need anyone else, that I could trust her and that everything was fine.
From there the event took a turn, Friedman describes.
"I asked her if I could take her pants off a bit and she said yes. And in that second she pounced on me. She pulled my hair, bit me. She tried to bang my head on the floor. I asked her to stop but she kept going," the nurse described the moments of horror .
"I was trying to somehow hold her and scream for help. At that moment there was no one next to me so I shouted a lot until someone heard me. It took more than a minute until they came to help me."
Immediately after the incident, Friedman was taken to the emergency room at Niado Hospital in Netanya, where she underwent tests and received treatment.
"Because of her bites I take antibiotics. I got a tetanus shot and it still hurts my scalp from her hair pulls. She took off a whole lot of hair for me, but mostly I am mentally damaged," she stressed.
Friedman argues that violence in closed wards is routine.
"Violence in psychiatric hospitals is something that is everyday. There are times when it is less severe violence and there are times when it comes to severe violence, as unfortunately in my case."
After being attacked, Friedman calls on the government to intervene.
"We come to work scared because we do not know whether he will be attacked again or not. This situation can not continue."
Just as there is security in the emergency rooms of the hospitals, so there must be security for us in the dispute as well.
The standards of the staff should also be raised, so that there will be more manpower.
The government should allocate budgets for this.
There is no reason for any of us to experience such violence. "
