Workplace violence and its associated factors among nurses working in public hospitals of eastern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Workplace violence is one of the global health concerns. Although nurses are the backbone of the health care provision, they are highly subjected to workplace violence in healthcare. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of evidence on the extent of workplace violence against nurses in Ethiopia in general and Eastern Ethiopia in particular. Hence, this study aimed to assess the extent of workplace violence against nurses and its associated factors among nurse professionals working at public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia. Methods Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 603 nurses working in public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia. Nurses were recruited using a simple random sampling method at their workplace (health facilities). A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to declare significant association. Results Among the 620 estimated sample, 603(97.3%) of the nurses gave consent and completed the self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of workplace violence against nurse professionals in the last 12 months was 64.0% (95%CI: 60.2–67.7%). Nurses who were working in surgical (AOR: 2.30, 95%CI: 1.01–5.26), psychiatric (AOR: 3.06, 95%CI: 1.11–8.46), emergency (AOR: 3.62, 95%CI: 1.46–8.98), and medical wards (AOR: 5.20, 95%CI: 2.40–11.27); being worried of workplace violence (AOR: 1.71, 95%CI: 1.09–2.69); witnessed of physical workplace violence (AOR: 5.31, 95%CI: 3.28–8.59); claimed “absence/not-aware” of reporting procedure on workplace violence (AOR: 2.24, 95%CI: 1.45–3.46); and claimed “absence/not-aware” of institutional policies against workplace violence (AOR: 2.68, 95%CI: 1.73–4.13) were factors associated with nurses’ experience of workplace violence in eastern Ethiopia. Conclusions Workplace violence against nurses was found to be unacceptably high in the study area (eastern Ethiopia). We suggest that stakeholders could work on early risk identification and management of violent incidents, establish violence reporting and sanction mechanisms using contextual strategies to prevent workplace violence against nurse professionals.

Prevalence of Workplace Violence and Associated Factors Against Nurses Working in Public Hospitals in Northeastern Ethiopia, 2022

“…Injuries caused by WPV can be physical, psychological, or both. Physical and psychological WPV has a variety of ramifications, including upsetting emotions, burnout, low job motivation, lack of job satisfaction, substance abuse, and other psychological effects, all of which potentially harm the victims’ well-being and result in poor performance and productivity loss ( Boyle et al, 2016 ; Legesse et al, 2022 ; Zhang et al, 2017 ). Furthermore, WPV affects not only victims, their families, and coworkers but also healthcare organizations that have suffered from lost income, health costs, overhead expenses, and litigation ( Kitaneh et al, 2012 ; Najafi et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Despite Ethiopian Labor Proclamation No. 377/2003 (Article 92), which states that “employers have a legal obligation to protect their employees’ health and safety,” there is no nationwide Occupational Standard Health policy or professionally established body or association that addresses how the event must be managed and controlled ( Legesse et al, 2022 , Seblework, 2006 ).…”

Prevalence and predictors of workplace violence against nurses in Africa: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Six studies assessed the predictors of WPV against nurses 21–25,27 . A total of 16 factors were identified to significantly predict the nurses’ experience of WPV.…”

“…In the other hand, nurses who have witnessed violence had an increased risk of experiencing it themselves. Furthermore, nurses who are worried about WPV had a higher odd of its exposure 22 …”

“…Furthermore, nurses who are worried about WPV had a higher odd of its exposure. 22 F I G U R E 2 Forest plot for the prevalence of any type of WPV. CI, confidence interval; WPV, workplace violence.…”