Inpatients-to-caregivers violence in geriatric settings: Impact of assaults on caregivers’ mental health, risk, and protective factors.

Abstract

The psychological suffering of caregivers is a widely established fact. Indeed, the patients present numerous aggressive behaviors directed nursing staff, considering their diagnoses. This violence has effects on caregivers’ mental health. Numerous articles have studied this question; however, it is rare that French studies have combined qualitative and quantitative approaches to the problem. With the aim of examining the effect of these attacks, we set up the 2 following studies. The first one, a qualitative study, is based upon clinical interviews. The second one, a quantitative study, uses 4 validated tools (measuring anxiety with State–Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI-Y], burnout with Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI], Burnout Measure Short Version [BMS], and posttraumatic stress with Impact of Event Scale-Revised [IES-R]) and a questionnaire assessing the presence and frequency of the assaults. Sixty-four caregivers have participated in this research. From a qualitative point of view, the interviews bring to light the fact that caregivers suffering attacks try to manage them with active coping (explanations, requests for external help) but that as their frequency increases, they resort to flight or avoidance coping strategies. Our research shows that rather than the intensity of the attacks, it is their frequency that has a significant effect on the caregiver’s suffering. The more the attacks are frequent, the more the levels of burnout, anxiety-state and posttraumatic stress increase. These results show that the assaults of the residents, even when not considered as dangerous, can have a heavy impact on caregivers’ mental health.

Análisis diferencial del desgaste laboral emocional en profesionales de atención socio-sanitaria geriátrica

“…El agotamiento emocional pondera, como variable condicionante del burnout, a la hora de desencadenar reacciones psicosomáticas y afectaciones sobre la salud percibida; por su parte, Bernaldo-De-Quirós, Piccini, Gómez, & Cerdeira (2015) o Le Borgne, Boudoukha, Garnier, Jeoffrion, & Capponi (2015) han vinculado aspectos de salud y burnout con frecuencia a agresiones como riesgo de accidente psicosocial en entornos laborales. Los servicios de salud, a su vez, han encontrado relaciones entre el cansancio emocional de los trabajadores y la probabilidad de sufrir determinados actos agresivos por parte de los usuarios a los que presentan sus servicios, aunque no necesariamente violencia física (Llor-Esteban, Sánchez, Ruiz, & Jiménez, 2017).…”

Burnout of Healthcare Workers in Acute Care Geriatric Facilities During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Online-Based Study

“…More specifically, burnout in geriatric facilities can be char- depersonalization, such as loss of idealism and adoption of an indifferent or even cynical attitude toward residents [6]. Caregivers in geriatric facilities are at significant risk for burnout even at baseline, especially when working with residents with dementia that have functional and cognitive decline and challenging behavioral and psychiatric problems (e.g., hallucinations) [7] that can lead to violence [8].…”