I learned about that assault from my daily news feed too, but I didn't understand what the nurse's union prez meant when she was quoted to say "the safety policies weren't getting enforced".
Personally, I would vouch for a policy where if the patient assaults a healthcare staff in any way, they'll fxxking get their a$$es kicked out of the hospital and not receive treatment. If you want to get treated, you show a little respect to the healthcare staff. Otherwise, you can GTFO and rot until you die.
But of course, a policy like that will never fly.