Workplace Aggression: Exploring Experiences of Occupational Therapy Practitioners in Healthcare Settings

Scanlon, Eileen; Piersol, Catherine Verrier

doi:10.1080/07380577.2021.1872819

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Bullying may be even more prevalent. Scanlon and Piersol (2021) documented American OTs experiences with disrespect and intimidation from nurses, physicians and other health professionals they worked with. They noted that such unfortunately common events are under-recognized by OTs and should be highlighted as a first step in addressing them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(For review of distinctions and concomitants of current aggression typologies, see Bobadilla et al, 2012). Because intimidation and interpersonal aggression arise out of "organizational cultures" in which OTs are disrespected (Scanlon & Piersol, 2021) and assaulted (Andersen et al, 2018), we assessed this factor by asking participants to rate their work environment on a scale that tapped the dimensions of such cultures. However, organizational culture may also incorporate attitudes of the larger surrounding milieu.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Levels of Aggression Escalation in Adult/Geriatric Occupational Therapy Workplaces

2022

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Workplace aggression can escalate from verbal to physical, adding risk of physical injury to negative psychological impact. Understanding escalation is necessary to develop effective violence intervention/prevention programs, but its occurrence is not well documented. An online survey determined if and how aggression escalates in occupational therapy (OT) workplaces. Because local culture can influence workplace events we compared surveys from northeastern states with the lowest rates of homicide to southeastern states with the highest. Ninety four OTs working in southeastern or northeastern states reported details of the most recent verbal and/or physical aggressive event initiated by clients (NIOSH Type 2) or staff (NIOSH Type 3) they witnessed or experienced in the workplace within the last year. Aggressor status, motivation, actions; therapist reactions, injuries and psychological sequelae were queried in logical order. Behavior inter-correlation followed by cluster analysis determined if levels of escalation could be detected. Analyses grouped events into five escalation levels in which progressively more hostile or damaging behaviors were added at each successive level. Higher levels involved known risk factors: Younger, reactively angry clients with prior aggression histories escalated attacks to involve restraint, calls for help and physical injury. Southeastern aggressor/target interactions appeared more combative, seemingly regardless of personal risk. Remarkably, northeastern OTs reported significantly more positive and fewer negative feelings across levels of escalation. OT workplace aggression occurs frequently, can escalate to injurious levels and requires prevention/intervention. How therapists maintain positive attitudes in the face of violence deserves further study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%