Providing Health Care in the Shadow of Violence: Does Emotion Regulation Vary Among Hospital Workers From Different Professions?

Abstract

Research into violence against health care staff by patients and their families within the health care services shows a rising frequency of incidents. The potentially damaging effects on health care staff are extensive, including diverse negative psychological and physical symptoms. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how hospital workers from different professions reacted to patients' and visitors' violence against them or their colleagues, and how they regulated their emotional reactions during those incidents. The research question was as follows: How do different types of hospital workers regulate the range of their emotional reactions during and after violent events? Participants were 34 hospital workers, representing several professional sectors. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews, which were later transcribed and thematically content analyzed. Five themes were revealed, demonstrating several tactics that hospital workers used to regulate their emotions during incidents of violent outbursts by patients or visitors: (1) Inability to Manage Emotion Regulation, (2) Emotion Regulation by Distancing and Disengagement Tactics, (3) Emotion Regulation Using Rationalization and Splitting Tactics, (4) Emotion Regulation via the Use of Organizational Resources, and (5) Controlling Emotions by Suppression. Hospital workers who experienced dissonance between their professional expectations and their emotional reactions to patients' violence reported using various emotion regulation tactics, consequently managing to fulfill their duty competently. Workers who did not experience such dissonance felt in full control of their emotions and did not manifest responses of emotion regulation. Others, however, experienced intense emotional flooding and failed to regulate their emotions. We recommend developing health care staff's awareness of possible emotional implications of violent incidents, for themselves as people and for their intact functioning at work. In addition, we recommend further development of health care staff training programs for coping with violent patients and enhancement of formal and informal organizational support.

Addressing Risks of Violence against Healthcare Staff in Emergency Departments: The Effects of Job Satisfaction and Attachment Style

“…For healthcare workers, violence represents a complex and dangerous occupational hazard [7]. The primary purpose of any healthcare system is the promotion of health while ensuring equal opportunities [8]. Patients need a calm, stable environment in which they are supported and feel safe; a healthcare setting cannot be a “battlefield” [2].…”

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

“…(2) The primary goal of any healthcare system is to promote health in an entire community, granting equal opportunity to all. (3) Patients need a stable, calm environment where they can be supported and feel safe. Unfortunately, the incidence of violence is rising in healthcare settings.…”

Whose fault is it? Attribution of causes of patient violence among exposed and unexposed community‐based family physicians

“…These interpretations tend to shape their experiences of the violent encounter, their emotional expressions and their reactions to the event (Bowling & Beehr, 2006;Chapman, Styles, Perry, & Combs, 2010;Drach-Zahavy et al, 2012;Enosh et al, 2012;Goldblatt et al, 2020;Lau, Magarey, & Wiechula, 2012;Luck, Jackson, & Usher, 2007;Tzafrir et al, 2015).…”

“…Many studies from different disciplines refer to the impact of violence by patients and their families against healthcare staff (e.g. Drach-Zahavi, Goldblatt, Granot, Hirshmann, & Kostinsky, 2012;Enosh, Tzafrir, & Gur, 2012;Findorff et al, 2004;Gascon et al, 2012;Goldblatt et al, 2020;Kvas & Seljak, 2015;Landau & Bendalak, 2010;Tzafrir, Enosh, & Gur, 2015); however, there is scant research on the perceptions of healthcare providers who were exposed to patient aggression and violence, compared to healthcare providers who were not. For example, do CBFPs who were exposed to patient violence view the factors leading to such violence differently than CBFPs who were not?…”

“…Thus, the phenomenon of patient‐initiated violence against healthcare staff is directly and indirectly destructive to the organisation in the short and long term. Both service delivery and staff members’ performance is damaged (Enosh et al., 2012; Goldblatt et al, 2020).…”