A Survey of Workplace Violence Across 65 U.S. Emergency Departments

Abstract

Objectives Workplace violence is a concerning issue. Healthcare workers represent a significant portion of the victims, especially those who work in the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study was to examine ED workplace violence and staff perceptions of physical safety. Methods Data were obtained from the National Emergency Department Safety Study (NEDSS), which surveyed staff across 69 U.S. EDs including physicians, residents, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The authors also conducted surveys of key informants (one from each site) including ED chairs, medical directors, nurse managers, and administrators. The main outcome measures included physical attacks against staff, frequency of guns or knives in the ED, and staff perceptions of physical safety. Results A total of 5,695 staff surveys were distributed, and 3,518 surveys from 65 sites were included in the final analysis. One-fourth of surveyed ED staff reported feeling safe sometimes, rarely, or never. Key informants at the sampled EDs reported a total of 3,461 physical attacks (median of 11 attacks per ED) over the 5-year period. Key informants at 20% of EDs reported that guns or knives were brought to the ED on a daily or weekly basis. In multivariate analysis, nurses were less likely to feel safe “most of the time” or “always” when compared to other surveyed staff. Conclusions This study showed that violence and weapons in the ED are common, and nurses were less likely to feel safe than other ED staff.

Nurses’ experiences and understanding of workplace violence in a trauma and emergency department in South Africa

“…I thought here I must better stay away from this man, because I don't know if he wants to get me'. (38-year-old female registered nurse) Kansagra et al (2008Kansagra et al ( :1273 reported that 'nurses felt the least safe' of all participants surveyed across 65 emergency departments in the USA. This finding is confirmed by Zuzelo et al (2012:114), who found that 92% of psychiatric nurses expected to be assaulted by patients.…”

Workplace bullying and post-traumatic stress symptoms among family physicians in Lithuania: An occupation and region specific approach

“…Health care workers seem to be more at risk of workplace bullying as compared to other occupations, yet majority of the data so far come from the studies of nurses [15,16]. Some studies investigating bullying arising from patients, colleagues and supervisors among medical doctors during training, residents, emergency physicians, ambulance personnel [17], young doctors and specialists with long career experience exist; including studies conducted in the United States [18][19][20][21], in some European countries [22][23][24][25] as well as in Japan [26]. Harassment and abuse of family physicians in the workplace by patients or colleagues is also an emerging issue in health care environment in Canada [27,28], USA [29], and Australia [30].…”

Workplace violence among emergency medical services workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…Studies have reported a wide range of psychosocial distress, burn-out and low perceptions of safety. [3,4] Furthermore, occupational homicide is also reported as an outcome of workplace violence, including that occurring in health industries. [5,6] The emergency department is the point of first contact with the hospital ward's health care workers, and workers in the emergency department were found to have a high risk of work place violence compared to non-emergency worker.…”