Residents’ Experiences of Abuse and Harassment in Emergency Departments

Abstract

The widespread epidemic of emerging abuse in Emergency Departments (ED) toward residents generates negative effects on the residents' health and welfare. The purpose of this study was to determine and highlight the high prevalence of abuse and harassment toward Emergency residents. In 2011, a multi-institutional, cross-sectional study was conducted at seven Emergency Residencies of central hospitals in Iran. Residents were asked about their age, marital status, postgraduate year (PGY) levels, and work experiences before residency. Prevalence of abuse in four categories was evaluated: verbal abuse; verbal and physical threat; physical assault and sexual harassment; and by whom. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Two hundred fifteen of the 296 residents (73%) completed the survey. The prevalence of any type of abuse experienced was 89%; 43% of residents experienced verbal and physical threats, 10% physical assault, and 31% sexual harassment. Verbal abuse and verbal and physical threats without the use of weapons were higher in men in comparison with women (p< .04). Women were more likely than men to encounter sexual harassment (31% vs. 7%, p< .01). Among the sexual harassment categories, sexual jokes (51%) were the most prevalent between residents. Junior residents (PGY-1) were more likely to experience abuse than senior residents (PGY-2 and PGY-3; p< .01). Patients and their companions were the main agents of abusive behaviors. Abuse and harassment during residency in ED are highly prevalent. Educational programs and effective preventive measures against this mistreatment are urgently required.

Workplace violence by specialty among Peruvian medical residents

“…We found that the main perpetrators of workplace violence were other workers of the institution, followed by patients/relatives. Similar results have been reported in other studies in Turkey [14], Iran [13], Japan [15], Uruguay [17], Argentina [19], Mexico [29], and Venezuela [30]. However, studies in the United States [7] and Mexico [16] found that aggressors were mainly patients/relatives.…”

“…The prevalence of workplace violence was 73.4%, similar to that reported in studies in the United States [7, 8], Iran [12, 13], Turkey [14], Japan [15], Argentina [19], Mexico [29], and Venezuela [30], in which the prevalence ranged from 66% to 97%. In addition, we found that verbal violence was more frequent than physical violence (72.7% vs 16.3%), similar to other studies conducted in different populations of residents [3, 7, 8, 13–15, 19, 31]. It is important to note that both physical and verbal violence can have a negative impact on the resident's emotional, academic, and professional status [32].…”

Workplace violence toward resident doctors in public hospitals of Syria: prevalence, psychological impact, and prevention strategies: a cross-sectional study

“…A significant association was found between the resident's doctor's young age and exposure to verbal violence. This finding is in line with a previous report [36], and could be attributed to the fact that senior resident doctors have better communication skills and are more professional in dealing with nervous and agitated clients. Also, this patient-initiated violence might be due to the lack of medical management skills by junior resident doctors and the respect of patients for an older doctor.…”

The Experience of Male Physicians with Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment: a Qualitative Study

“…It was also notable that many of the men had overheard their male colleagues making inappropriate comments about female physicians' physical appearance. These reports of witnessed harassment are consistent with the previous literature suggesting that gender-based harassment and sexual harassment are common in medicine 1,2,12,13 . They are also consistent with our previous qualitative work with women in which, universally, the women reported experiencing some form of sexual or gender-based harassment 11 .…”