The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians

Abstract

Background Physicians commonly suffer from workplace aggression and its negative consequences. Previous studies have shown that stressors such as job demands increase the risk of inappropriate treatment at workplace. Poorly functioning, and constantly changing information systems form a major work stressor for physicians. The current study examined the association between physicians’ stress attributed to information systems (SAIS) and their experiences of workplace aggression. Workplace aggression covered physical and non-physical aggression, perpetrated by coworkers, patients, patient’s relatives, or supervisors. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. The participants included 2786 physicians (67.4% women) who were sampled randomly from the registry of Finnish Medical Association, which covers almost all of the Finnish physician population. First, bivariate associations were studied among participant characteristics, SAIS and workplace aggression. Logistic regression analysis was then used to further determine how SAIS was associated with the likelihood of experiencing different types of aggression. Results Higher levels of SAIS were associated with higher likelihood of aggression with regard to all types of aggression, except non-physical aggression perpetrated by patients or relatives. The demographic factors (work-sector, gender, age) did not have a noticeable influence on the association between SAIS and aggression. Conclusions The present results build on previous evidence on the prevalence of SAIS and its negative effects on healthcare workers. Since SAIS may increase the risk of experiencing aggression, it is possible that SAIS also endangers the wellbeing of physicians and thereby the quality of patient care. Resourcing time and training during introduction of a new IS could alleviate time pressure and thus stress attributed to managing new information systems. The role of organizational climate and general workload in arousing SAIS and aggression should be examined in future studies.

A gender-based review of workplace violence amongst the global health workforce—A scoping review of the literature

“…Not all studies were aimed at assessing workplace violence based on gender; therefore, we included all studies that either provided data on gender-based workplace violence or findings that indicated gender was a factor for WPV or a predictor for various outcomes of WPV. The latter group of studies had various aims, including: to assess factors associated with workplace violence [ 19 , 27 – 33 , 139 , 204 – 207 , 243 ], to assess the association between aggression, psychological distress, and job satisfaction [ 34 , 35 , 120 , 187 ], to determine injuries resulting from physical assaults [ 203 ], to determine the relationship between WPV and psychological and behavioral responses [ 35 – 37 , 161 , 200 , 202 , 208 – 211 ], to assess effects of lateral violence and its consequences [ 38 , 212 ], and to assess the preparedness to respond to sexual harassment before and after a workshop [ 39 , 65 ]. In addition to gender as the basis for WPV, we classified other factors associated with WPV that were not explicitly gendered, such as age and status (presented below).…”

“…Younger age was found to be a significant risk factor for violence by several studies for both male and female healthcare providers [ 7 , 12 , 14 , 33 , 35 , 36 , 47 – 50 , 73 , 76 , 78 , 83 , 89 , 91 , 92 , 96 , 98 , 103 , 123 , 139 , 141 , 147 , 152 , 165 , 190 , 195 , 198 , 219 , 224 ]. The studies that reported a higher prevalence of WPV in general for women also reported that the younger age of the health care provider was associated with a higher risk of violence in various contexts, including verbal abuse [ 14 , 36 , 83 , 92 , 98 , 123 , 204 , 219 ], bullying, or mobbing [ 14 , 47 , 50 , 73 , 165 , 226 ], sexual harassment [ 12 , 36 , 44 , 49 , 78 , 152 , 224 ] and aggress...…”

Associations among the workplace violence, burnout, depressive symptoms, suicidality, and turnover intention in training physicians: a network analysis of nationwide survey

“…First, organizational policies of cultural reforms particularly in the context of reducing worker-to-worker aggression and violence are required 111 . Second, organizational allocation of sufficient physician manpower to understaffed workplace is required to prevent understaffing-related excessive job demands and workplace aggression/violence 112 , 113 . Third, organizational-level prompt intervention of workplace violence occurrence by running of simulation-based behavioral training 114 and operating of behavioral emergency response teams 115 are needed.…”

Psychosocial ergonomics of the workplace of medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in three risk’s dimensions: working hours, violence and the use of psychoactive drugs—a prospective pilot study

“…Workplace violence against medical personnel has a negative effect on workers mental health, exert psychological pressure on them, and can result in workplace absenteeism, job resignation ( 5 – 8 ). Workplace violence is complex problem which can impact different practitioners and can be caused by various risk factors including, high demand for health services, shortages of HCWs, long waiting times for health services, limited interpersonal trust, unrealistic patient expectations, and medical errors ( 9 , 10 ).…”