Workplace Violence and its Associated Factors among Nurses

Abstract

Background: Workplace violence among nurses is prevalent worldwide. If nurses become aware of the workplace violence and its risk factors then only they can protect themselves. This study assessed the prevalence of workplace violence and its associated factors among nurses in Pokhara, Nepal. Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Pokhara. The required sample size of the study was 200 nurses. We adopted self-administered questionnaire developed by International Labor Office, International Council of Nurses, World Health Organization (WHO), and Public Services International. Out of 21 hospitals of Pokhara, we selected five hospitals using simple random sampling method. The number of nurses in each hospital was fixed proportionately considering the total number of employed nurses. Individual nurses were selected on the first meet first basis to gain the required number. Results: Two-thirds (64.5%) nurses experienced some type of violence in the last six months at their workplace. The proportion of verbal violence was higher (61.5%) compared to the physical (15.5%) and sexual violence (9%). Most perpetrators of the violence were the relatives of patients and hospital employees. Age of nurses and working stations had statistically significant association with workplace violence (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: Workplace violence among nurses is a noteworthy problem in Pokhara whereas nearly two-thirds of nurses faced some type of violence in last six months. It is an urge to widen awareness level of nurses on the violence thus, they can take precaution themselves and ask hospital administration and other stakeholders to address the workplace violence.

Verbal Abuse Among Nurses Working in a Nepalese Government Hospital

“…Studies conducted in various parts of the world have also reported that nurses frequently experienced verbal abuse from patients’ relatives. 1,4,9,12,17,20 However, some studies are in contrast with our finding and reported nurse colleagues, 21 physicians, 18 and patients 6 as the main source of verbal abuse. The variation in sources of verbal abuse might be because of the different care culture existing in different countries.…”

“…16 They found verbal abuse as the most prevailing types of violence, however, they did not specify about the verbal abuse among nurses. There is only one study about the prevalence of workplace violence among hospital nurses in Nepal, 17 which found that verbal abuse was reported by higher proportion than physical and sexual abuse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of verbal abuse encountered by nurses working in the hospital of Nepal and examine the association of sociodemographic and work-related characteristics such as their role in organization, ward in which the nurses was employed, working shift, and so on with verbal abuse incidence.…”

Risk of Violence among Nurses in Emergency Departments at Baghdad City Hospitals: The Mediating Role of the Work Environment

“…Concerning the age, the study results revealed that the highest percentage of the study subjects within the age group (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29) years, this finding consistent with (17) who reported that the highest percentage of the nurses in the emergency departments within age groups (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29) years. Concerning the gender, the study results revealed that the majority of the study subjects are males.…”

“…The study findings revealed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between nurses' age and their likelihood of exposure to violence in the future. This finding supported by that of (24) reported that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between nurses' age and their likelihood of exposure to violence in the future. The study findings revealed that there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between nurses' years of experience in nursing and risk of violence.…”

“…The study findings revealed that there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between nurses' age and risk of violence. This finding is supported by (24) who reported that there was a significant inverse correlation between nurses' age and risk of violence. The study findings revealed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between nurses' age and their likelihood of exposure to violence in the future.…”