Examining workplace violence as it unfolds: toward a video-based microsociological approach

Why Won’t It Stop: Workplace Violence in Emergency Care

Keeping Healthcare Workers Safe Through Policy Initiatives

Origin and Prevention of Workplace Violence in Health Care in China

Managing Stress and Conflict in Libraries

Implementation of a Comprehensive Intervention to Reduce Physical Assaults and Threats in the Emergency Department

Workplace violence is a devastating issue worldwide. Incidents of workplace violence towards nurses are common in every healthcare setting. Nurses are more prone to workplace violence due to the nature of the tasks performed by them at healthcare settings. Lack of respect towards the nursing profession in the Pakistani society is a significant contributing factor in workplace violence towards nurses. Workplace violence towards nurses is categorized in two types, psychological and physical violence and both these types of violence exist equally in different health care settings of Pakistan. There are many reported and unreported cases in which nurses experience rape, unwanted sexual deeds, workplace bullying, and physical violence from patients, their family members and other paramedical staff. Limited work has been done to manage workplace violence at the health care settings in Pakistan. Incidents of violence towards nurses are yet under reported because of fear and more disrespect in the Pakistani society if reported formally. This is extremely important to design more effective strategies to assist nurses in dealing with workplace violence proficiently and competently. A Safe work environment will automatically attract nurses to remain in the nursing profession.

Introduction:The frequency of workplace violence has increased significantly across several countries, with short- and long-term effects on workers’ health. Within the health care sector, nursing professionals are the most exposed to workplace violence, since they provide direct assistance to patients on a 24-hour basis.Objectives:To identify the types of occupational violence experienced by nursing professionals.Methods:This was a descriptive, quantitative study of 55 nursing professionals in the emergency unit of a public hospital. Data were collected between April and June 2018 through the Questionnaire for Workplace Violence Experienced or Witnessed by Nursing Professionals. Categorical variables were presented as frequencies and percentages, while continuous variables were described using measures of central tendency and dispersion.Results:A total of 49 (88.9%) participants had experienced workplace violence, with 21 (38%) suffering verbal abuse; 14 (25.4%) experiencing mobbing; 6 (11%) reporting physical violence; 5 (9.1%) suffering sexual harassment; and 3 (5.4%) reporting racial discrimination. Furthermore, 44 (90%) of these individuals reported that the incidents of violence could have been prevented.Conclusions:The types of violence observed included physical aggression, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and racial discrimination, with verbal abuse being the most commonly reported. These acts were perpetrated by patients and their families, as well as colleagues and supervisors. Violence prevention strategies should be implemented in institutions in order to provide a safe working environment.

Workplace Violence in the Emergency Department: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Aggression Management Education for Acute Care Nurses: What’s the Evidence?

BackgroundWorkplace violence severely impacts individual nurses. With the three-child opening policy of China and the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in the recently years, obstetric nurses face the double attack of heavy workload and staffing shortage. This study aimed to evaluate the current situation of workplace violence among Chinese obstetric nurses under the new situation, assess the level of violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception in Chinese obstetric nurses and explore the correlation between workplace violence and the level of violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception.MethodsA cross-sectional survey on the workplace violence for Chinese obstetric nurses was conducted from August to February 2023. All the questionnaires came from 10 provinces and 3 autonomous regions in China. The basic characteristics of obstetric nurse’s workplace violence, workplace violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice scale and workplace violence climate perception scale were collected.ResultsTotally, 522 Chinese obstetric nurses were included. 55.0% of obstetric nurses (287) had experienced workplace violence in the past 12 months, including verbal assault (40.4%), physical assault (34.1%), and sexual assault (31.0%). The overall level of obstetric nurses’ workplace violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception of workplace violence was low. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the violence prevention knowledge dimension significantly influenced obstetric nurses’ workplace violence (B = -0.278, P < .001), attitude dimension (B = -0.241, P < .001), behavior dimension (B = -0.216, P < .001) and the violence climate perception’s organizational management (B = -0.177, P < .001), organizational training (B = -0.175, P < .001), organizational support (B = -0.143, p < .001) and the violence handling (B = -0.165, P < .001).ConclusionThe incidence of workplace violence among obstetric nurses in the new situation is high. However, the overall violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception levels are low. Therefore, nursing managers should take targeted measures according to the relevant influencing factors and the characteristics of obstetrics to improve the level of obstetric nurses’ violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception to reduce workplace violence among obstetric nurses.

Rising incidents of violence and mistreatment of healthcare workers by patients and visitors have been reported. U.S. healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience nonfatal workplace violence (WPV) than workers in any other profession. However, less is known about the national trends in the incidence of violence and mistreatment in healthcare. The specific organizational and individual-level factors that relate to stress arising from these occurrences specifically by patients and family members are also not fully understood. The goals of this study were to examine national trends of violence toward healthcare workers, understand which populations are most vulnerable to stress from violence and mistreatment, and explore organizational factors that are related to these occurrences. Data were collected from three sources: (1) The Bureau of Labor Statistics Intentional Injury by Another Person data for the period 2011-2020, (2) data from a large national workers' compensation claim services provider for the period 2018-2022, and (3) results from a survey distributed at a large medical center in June and July 2022. Data were represented graphically and analyzed using multivariate regression and dominance analysis to identify specific predictors of WPV and mistreatment among healthcare workers. Of the total surveyed sample, 23.7% of participants reported mistreatment from patients or visitors as a major stressor and 14.6% reported WPV from patients or visitors as a major stressor. Stress from mistreatment and WPV was most frequently reported by nurses, employees aged 18 to 24 years other than nurses, those who identified as White, and those who identified as female or a gender minority. The emergency room (ER) showed the highest percentages of stress from mistreatment (61.8%) and violence (55.9%) from patients or visitors. The top predictors of stress from WPV and mistreatment by patients or visitors among healthcare workers ranked high to low were working in the ER, working as a nurse, a lack of necessary supplies or equipment, patient or visitor attitudes or beliefs about COVID-19, and working in a hospital-based unit. In addition to protecting employees as a moral imperative, preventing WPV is critical for organizational performance. Employee productivity is estimated to decrease up to 50% in the 6 to 18 weeks following an incident of violence, while turnover can increase 30% to 40%. An effective WPV prevention plan and a proactive approach to supporting the physical and mental health conditions that may result from WPV can mitigate the potential costs and exposures from these incidents. Organizations must also set clear expectations of behavior with patients and visitors by refusing to tolerate violence and mistreatment of caregivers. The impact of WPV can remain present and active for up to 8 years following an incident. Policy-level interventions are also needed. Currently, there are no federal protections for healthcare workers related to violence, though some states have made it a felony to abuse healthcare workers.

Workplace violence is a work stressor which is presumed to lead to burnout, whereas social support is hypothesized to buffer the impact of such a stressor on health outcomes. In this study the association between burnout and workplace violence was investigated, and the role played by social support in moderating the relationship assessed. The study group consisted of workers in the road passenger transport sector in Maputo City, Mozambique. A random sample of 504 participants was selected from a register of 2,618 drivers and conductors working with road passenger transport. The study design was cross-sectional. Previously validated measures of burnout, workplace violence and social support were used. The prevalence of severe burnout was 3.6% and of mild burnout 30.1%. Workplace violence was significantly associated with burnout after control for potential confounders. Burnout was more common among workers lacking social support following workplace violence than among peers who had received supported following an incident of violence. The study suggests that burnout is a public health problem among workers in the road passenger transport sector, and may be closely and independently linked to workplace violence. Social support appears to buffer or moderate the effect of workplace violence on burnout. This has implications for policy in the workplace. Strategies and guidelines are needed to support workers following workplace violence, since these may prove vital in reducing burnout and other psychosocial consequences.

Patient Safety Versus Workplace Safety: Stun Gun Debate Illustrates Dueling Federal Mandates

IntroductionHealth workers have increasingly become victims of workplace violence. However, negligible action has been given to developing workplace violence (WPV) prevention programs in hospital settings in low-middle-income countries. An effective workplace violence prevention program is crucial for preventing violence and managing the consequences of incidents. This study assessed management staff perspectives on intervention strategies for workplace violence prevention in a tertiary health facility in Nigeria.MethodsA qualitative study design was employed to explore the intervention strategies for preventing and managing workplace violence at a tertiary health facility in southeast Nigeria. Six focus group discussions were conducted with thirty-eight management-level staff. The interview transcripts were manually coded according to six predefined constructs of workplace violence: creating interdisciplinary harmony and WPV experiences, causes, prevention, program/policy contents, and implementation strategies. A manual thematic analysis approach was adopted, and the results were presented as narratives.ResultsThe findings revealed recognition, welfare, administrative control, and security as vital strategies for the WPV prevention program. The participants agreed that unanimity among staff could be promoted through respect for all cadres of staff and for people’s perspectives (creating interdisciplinary harmony). Assaults and staff intimidation/victimization (experiences), attributed to unethical/poor health workers’ behaviour and ethnic discrimination (causes), were viewed as preventable by ensuring patients’/caregivers’ welfare through respectful and timely care and staff’s welfare through incentives/remunerations and discouraging intimidation (prevention strategies). Furthermore, the staff expressed that the WPV program should employ administrative controls, including instituting WPV policy/unit, codes of ethics, and standard operating procedures across all workplace facets (program/policy contents), which should be implemented through awareness creation, enforcement of sanctions, and provision of appropriate and adequate security presence in the hospital (policy implementation strategies).ConclusionRespect, patient/staff welfare, administrative control, and security are strong mechanisms to prevent workplace violence in tertiary hospitals. Hospital management should institutionalize workplace violence prevention programs/policies and ensure compliance.

The present study was conducted to investigate workplace violence and to examine how it is associated with quality of life (QOL) among medical professionals in China. A total of 2,464 medical professionals were selected from Fujian Province and Henan Province by using stratified cluster-sampling method. A Chinese version of the workplace violence scale was used to measure the incidence of workplace violence. The Short Form-36 Health Survey was employed to assess their QOL. Approximately 50% of the participants reported at least one type of workplace violence occurring in the previous 12 months. The multivariate analysis demonstrated workplace violence as a significant predictor for QOL among medical professionals, after controlling for other potential predictors. It suggests that the implementation of violence prevention policies and strategies to reduce workplace violence may improve QOL of medical professionals in China.