THREE months after they were attacked by a psychiatric patient inside a hospital ward, two nurses at a Mpumalanga hospital are yet to report for work.

The nurses were attacked by the patient on August 12 at Mmametlhake Hospital outside Hammanskraal.

A nurse at the hospital, who asked not to be named, said the two were overpowered by the male patient while they were examining him that day.

"One of the nurses was trying to give the patient an injection when he jumped from the bed, pressed her against the ground and tore her clothes. It looked like he was trying to rape her. When the other nurse saw the incident, she tried to help but was also attacked," said a colleague.

"They are still traumatised and are scared of going back to work."

Health authorities have confirmed that the the two nurses were still on sick leave. "They are currently under the employee assistance programme where they are receiving psychological and emotional support," said provincial health department spokesman Dumisani Mlangeni.

"They are still on full salary and are expected at work probably in the beginning of December."

But the three months' absence is not going down well with their colleagues. "It's normal for a nurse to be attacked by mentally disturbed patients in a hospital. What happened to them happens to a lot of nurses who deal with mentally ill patients, and for them to stay away from work for so long raises eyebrows," said a nurse.

Sowetan has also established that two months before the attack on the two nurses, another colleague was also attacked by a different mentally disturbed patient.

On June 29, another nurse was seriously assaulted by a patient and was forced to take a week's leave to nurse her injuries.

In both incidents, the patients were immediately transferred to Witbank Hospital where there are better facilities.