The figures state there were about 60,000 physical attacks on staff and more than 12,000 incidents of verbal abuse recorded in the past five years.
Of the 72,000 attacks, about 21,000 happened in the Belfast Health Trust alone, which was more than double the number of the second-highest, the Southern Trust.
The incident numbers only cover health trust staff, and do not include other settings like health centres, independent providers and private care homes.
Dodds said the figures only showed reported incidents, and that the actual number could be much higher.
“I suspect that there are many staff who think: ‘What can be done? What’s the point?’, and just get on with their job, and I think that is a terrible reflection on society,” she said.
“It’s a reflection on the state, particularly of our emergency departments, and we really need to do something about it.”