Introduction. Patient aggression is a serious problem in nursing. The research shows a large impact of aggression on the quality of care. It is necessary to study this phenomenon in work of medical staff, however no adequate measurment tools exist in Polish literature. Aim. This study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the 12-item Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS). Material and methods. It consists of translation and back-translation as well as factor analysis. The study involved 150 nursery students after their psychiatry training. Results. The translated version showed high psychometric properties and excellent similarities with other research. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in three components (dysfunctional, functional and protective dimensions). All factors explained 52,57% of total variance, and Cronbach’s alpha was .805; .755 and .828. Conclusions. The Polish version of POAS was found to be a valid and reliable tool to examine nurses’ attitudes towards patient aggression.

Key words: perception of aggression, nursing student, patient- -personnel relationship.