Staff at Tasmania's public hospitals say physical and verbal abuse a normalised part of the job

Elke King was on shift at the Launceston General Hospital in Tasmania's north when she was assaulted by a patient, leaving her with a major shoulder injury.

"I was in a physical altercation where I was grabbed and pushed up against a wall,"

she said.

As an emergency support officer, her job is to respond to violent and aggressive incidents and de-escalate situations before they get to that point.

It was not the first time she was assaulted on the job.

"It was just one of those unfortunate things that happens in our line of work," she said.

Data obtained by the ABC under right to information laws shows there were 771 'code blacks' at the Launceston General Hospital in the 2024-25 financial year

A code black triggers a security response to incidents involving violence or aggression.