Workplace Violence and Safety Issues in Long-Term Medical Care Facilities: Nurses' Perspectives

Abstract

BackgroundWorkplace violence (WPV) is becoming an issue that needs immediate attention in the United States, especially during this period as more states are adopting the “stand your ground laws to promote worker protection.” This study was conducted to investigate how WPV has contributed to an unsafe environment for nurses and nursing assistants who work in long-term medical care facilities.MethodsA structure questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Three facilities were sampled and 80 nurses and certified nursing assistants participated in the study. Ninety-two percent (n = 74) were female and 8% (n = 6) were male. Approximately 62% were black or African American, approximately 33% were Caucasians, and only 2% were from other ethnicities.ResultsWe found that 65% of the participants had experienced WPV while 41% believed that management shows little or no concern for their safety. Approximately 23% of respondents believed that reporting supervisor's WPV act is an unsafe action. In addition, 22% of those who reported that they have experienced WPV believed that the work environment is not safe to perform their duties. This significant difference in perception of workplace safety between those who had experienced WPV and those who had not was significant (t = 3.95, df = 158, p < 0.0001).ConclusionWPV is an epidemic problem that affects all health-care professionals. The findings of this study could help long-term medical care facilities' management identify the areas to focus on mitigating, controlling, and/or eliminating incidents of WPV.

Workplace violence against nurses in Korea and its impact on professional quality of life and turnover intention

“…These values were higher than those found in previous studies, even when conducted using the same instrument (91.5%, 67% and 19.5%) (Bae & Lee ). The present study showed that patients' families were the most frequent perpetrators of violence, which is not consistent with the results of a previous study in which patients were found to be the most frequent perpetrators of violence (Fasanya & Dada , Park et al . ).…”

“…These values were higher than those found in previous studies, even when conducted using the same instrument (91.5%, 67% and 19.5%) (Bae & Lee 2015). The present study showed that patients' families were the most frequent perpetrators of violence, which is not consistent with the results of a previous study in which patients were found to be the most frequent perpetrators of violence (Fasanya & Dada 2016, Park et al 2015. Nurses in Korea are responsible for an average of 15-20 inpatients, which is higher than that in Japan (seven inpatients) or the United States (five inpatients), as well as the highest number in any Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development country (Dailymedi 2014).…”

“…Therefore, the most vulnerable group to violence may be the group who worked 1–5 years as a nurse. Our results are also consistent with the findings of a previous study (Fasanya & Dada ). The high turnover intention among nurses who have worked for 1–5 years should be a major concern because it can result in high costs to the organisation and negatively impact the overall operation of the facility (Boamah & Laschinger ).…”

“…The overall prevalence of WPV in the year studied was found to be 95.5%, which appears to be higher than the 71% found in a Korean study or the 65% found in the United States (Hahn et al . , Fasanya & Dada ). The prevalence of WPV remains high despite several studies that have frequently been conducted, which may be due to cultural or socio‐economic differences.…”

Workplace Hazards Faced by Nursing Assistants in the United States: A Focused Literature Review

“…Again, patients, followed by co-workers, were found to be the most common perpetrators of violence [46]. In a study of 138 NAs across six nursing homes, 59% of NAs said they were assaulted once per week and 16% said they were assaulted daily.…”