The nurses' union has released figures showing police were required nine times this month to deal with violent confrontations at the Riverland General Hospital in Berri.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's (ANMF) SA branch wants security guards to become a permanent presence at the hospital's emergency department.
It has also called on the state government to deliver a plan to protect nurses and midwives against violence throughout SA.
ANMF SA branch chief executive Elizabeth Dabars said she had been in the Riverland hearing accounts from local staff.
"We're really concerned about those numbers and what we are hearing directly from the nurses and midwives on the floor [is] they are absolutely stretched beyond limit," she said.
"If they're not safe, quite frankly, no-one else in the facility is either.
Staff low, frustration high
Ms Dabars said Whyalla and Port Augusta hospitals had introduced permanent security in their emergency departments.
"With the situation occurring in Berri, the same should occur there," she said.
"I think there is a role for the Minister for Health and the state government to step into this and lead, because they cannot continue to say it's for the local health networks to manage," she said.
The violent incidents at hospitals have been linked to drug and alcohol use and inadequate staff.
"There [are] also frustrations from people who are waiting longer for care," Ms Dabars said.
"There is a relationship between the system being so stretched and the staff so overworked and overwhelmed and the issues of violence and aggression there."
Ms Dabars said it was unacceptable for nursing and midwifery staff to have to deal with violence in the workplace.
"These are mature women, largely," she said.
"To think they have to go home to explain to their children – and often their grandchildren – that they have gone to work to face this, it's unacceptable.
