More nurses not armed guards are the solution to stamping out the majority of violence in Victoria’s hospital emergency departments, according to the nurses union.

The Australian Nursing Federation’s Victorian branch has told an inquiry firearms would only increase the risk to staff and patients and that more nurses, increased surveillance of waiting areas and personal duress alarms were needed.

State Police Minister Peter Ryan ordered the inquiry, being held by the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee, amid concerns over the government’s $21 million plan to install armed guards at Victorian EDs.

ANF Victorian branch assistant secretary Paul Gilbert told the inquiry the government’s funding injection could provide an extra 235 full-time nurses for EDs, reducing waiting times and frustration - which was often the leading cause of violence.

“There will always be a degree of unanticipated activity but a lot of what our members experience is due to long waits and people feeling they are not being treated in the order they should be,” he said.

“Our preference is to fix the cause rather than the symptoms.”

The ANF’s submission calls for all 29 recommendations from the Violence in Nursing Taskforce to be implemented, followed by an independent evaluation, along with ongoing government funding for security guards at EDs and an increase in penalties for perpetrators who use violence against nurses and midwives.

The ANF said an October 2010 study showed violence in Victorian hospitals is a major concern for nurses and midwives, with more than one third of the 1500 participants reporting experiencing occupational violence.