Violence against health care workers: a provider’s (staff nurse) perspective

Abstract

Background: Work place violence has become an endemic problem for health care workers (HCW) worldwide. The staff nurses are the most vulnerable and most assaulted among all the health care workers. The study was conducted with an aim to assess the frequency of violence and factors responsible, the response of the staff nurses after an incident of violence, any association between the socio-demographic factors with the violence against the HCW and to seek the suggestions to stop/prevent such incidents.Methods: A cross sectional study conducted in a tertiary care private sector hospital in Lucknow. All the staff nurses working in IIMSR (Purposive Convenience). 141 staff nurses consented and were enrolled in the study. A qualified consenting nurse having at least 6 months of professional experience were included in the study.Results: Approximately three fourth of the nurses have ever been exposed to the violence and verbal abuse was the most common form of violence. The intense workload, high patient expectation and substance abuse were the three important contributing factors. The majority of nurses who suffered violence ever, felt that it was preventable. Ever reporting of violence was high and majority (>80%) of respondents felt that making the waiting room/area comfortable and restricted entry to staff and examination room can stop or prevent the violence.Conclusions: The violence against health care workers especially nurses is a major problem and can threaten the delivery of effective quality care. These incidents are preventable, provided security; training and communications measures are in place.

Prevalence, Characteristics, and Associated Factors of Workplace Violence Against Healthcare Professionals in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…In studies conducted by Dixit et al, 61 Gohil et al, 39 and Mishra et al, 55 the participants reported that no action was taken following the incidents of WPV.…”

“…60 The quality evaluation using the NHLBI tool found no studies with poor quality, three studies with fair quality, 39,51,57 and remaining studies (n = 12) with good quality. 40,41,61,62,[52][53][54][55][56][58][59][60] Most of the studies (n = 14) recruited study participants from medical institutions in urban areas whereas only one study by Pund et al recruited from multiple locations in a district where 65.85% participants were working in rural areas. 57 All these studies were cross-sectional in nature and conducted using self-administered pre-tested questionnaires with different demographic and violence-related variables.…”

“…International Council of Nurses (ICN), World Health Organization (WHO), and Public Services International (PSI). 39,54,55,58,60 Fifteen studies recruited in this study had a varying number of study participants ranging from 82…”

“…Low reporting was documented in seven studies which mentioned about a reporting system. [39][40][41]51,55,61,62 Moreover, the actions taken by the respective authorities were limited as revealed in studies conducted by Pund et al, 57 Vanlalduhsaki et al, 54 and Kumar M. et al 41 In addition, Kumar NS et al, 62 Singh et al, 56 and…”

“…Several factors associated with WPV were reported across studies, among which problems related to patient-provider communication were reported in most of the studies (n = 10). 39,40,[53][54][55][56][57]59,61,62 For example, Ori J. et al reported difficulties in communicating between doctors and patients contributed to WPV. 53 Another study by Anand et al highlighted poor communication skills among 81.1% of the participating healthcare providers, which was identified as a critical factor associated with WPV.…”