Prevalence of violence and its perpetrators in support-administrative departments of Alzahra Hospital: 2013

Abstract

Introduction: Violence is increasing in many workplaces among health care system. Hence, several studies have been performed in this field in Iran hospitals, but there is no study on the prevalence of violence among hospital support-administration staff; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of violence, its types, and perpetrators in support-administrative departments of Alzahra University Hospital. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed in Alzahra University Hospital of Isfahan in 2013. The study population was all the support-administrative staff of the hospital, which was interacting with patients and their companions. Sampling was done by census. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire including five domains: personal information, workplace information, verbal violence, physical violence, and other violent acts. Validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by the views of experts and its reliability was confirmed by test-retest (r = 0.9). Finally, data were analyzed by using descriptive statistical indicators and statistical tests such as the Chi-square by SPSS 20. Results: According to the results, the overall prevalence of violence among support-administrative staff was about 81% and the most reported violence was verbal violence (78.4%). In all types of violence, the majority of attackers were patient companions and men had shown more aggression compared with women. Although emergency condition caused more violence, there was no significant correlation between violence and patient's condition. Conclusion: Based on results, the most reported violence was verbal violence and main perpetrators of that were men and patient companions. According to high incidence of violence and staff willingness to train in this field, it is suggested to hold workshops on coping with violence and appropriate and respectful communication with patients and families, using experienced and patient staff to interact with clients and administrative procedures of admission and discharge should become specified and shorter.