Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aims to analyse, from a descriptive and qualitative point of view, the episodes of violence reported by healthcare workers (HCWs) in a large public Italian hospital. Qualitative analysis permits us to collect the victims’ words used to describe the event and the ways in which they dealt with it. A comparison between genders was performed to better understand what type of different strategies could be used to improve the prevention of workplace violence for HCWs.Design and settingThe retrospective observational study was carried out in ‘Città della Salute e della Scienza’, a complex of four interconnected hospitals situated in Northern Italy. This study analysed aggression data from the 4-year period of 2015–2018 that included all HCW categories. The data were obtained from the aggression reporting form.ParticipantsThe analysed records were supplied by 396 HCWs (3.6% of all HCWs in the hospital).ResultsMale HCWs aged <30 years did not report violent episodes that occurred in the workplace, while male HCWs with 6–15 years of work experience reported more violent episodes than their female counterparts. Among the HCW professions, nursing was the profession, in which HCWs were more prone to experience a violent episode, while male medical doctors were more prone to report violent episodes than female medical doctors. Moreover, female HCWs experienced more verbal violence (insults) than male HCWs did, while male HCWs experienced more physical violence (bodily contact) than female HCWs did.ConclusionsThe findings from this explorative study suggest that there is a gender difference in the characteristics of workplace violence perpetrated by patients, patients’ relatives and visitors and in the way in which these episodes are described. Consequently, it is important for informative and preventive courses to consider gender differences in experiencing a violent episode.

Workplace Violence: Effects on Job Performance and Coping Strategies among Physicians

“…This difference, however, could be explained by the fact that males tend to report exposure to violence more easily than females. (21) It was found that younger physicians aged below 30 years were at a significantly higher risk for WPV compared to older ages. Also, those with less than 5 years of experience were at significantly higher risk of exposure to violence than those with more experience.…”

Sex and Gender in Research on Healthcare Workers in Conflict Settings: A Scoping Review

“…Workplace violence in healthcare workers has been extensively studied in the occupational health literature [ 85 , 86 , 87 ]. Healthcare workers in conflict settings reported both physical and non-physical workplace violence.…”

“…While studies in this review found that physical violence was more common among male HCWs practicing in conflict zones [ 62 , 63 ], another study found no sex/gender differences in exposure to violence [ 61 ]. However, findings in the occupational health literature on healthcare workers in various workplace settings showed that males reported higher exposures to physical violence and abuse [ 86 , 87 ] and females reported higher exposures to non-physical violence, such as verbal abuse, threats, and sexual harassment [ 14 , 87 ]. A study on close-to-community health service providers revealed that insecurity was a prevalent and recurring theme for female workers, due to high risks of gender-based violence and sexual harassment in certain communities, which become more prominent in conflict-ridden areas [ 88 ].…”

Workplace violence (WPV) in healthcare systems

“…The incidence of physical WPV ranged from 4.9%–83.3% and verbal WPV from 66.2%–95.1% in the prior year among nurses (Jakobsson et al., 2020; Shi et al., 2020). Regards to association between gender and physical and verbal WPV, prior findings found are contradictory (Acquadro Maran et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020).…”