Abstract
BackgroundThis study is part of a larger project aimed at exploring the workplace experiences of nurses working in public general hospitals in Ghana. The current paper explores the causes of workplace violence against nurses in Ghana.MethodsTwenty-four semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with professional nurses working in five regions of Ghana. They were selected through purposive and participant-to-participant snowball sampling techniques. Data was analysed through thematic analyses.ResultsThe findings of the study suggest that nurses are not (always) passive recipients of violence. Workplace violence can be instigated by either of the parties to the nurse-patient/relative interaction. Nurses’ accounts of the causes of violence suggest that violence could be instrumental or reactive. The study further suggests that the causes of violence may differ depending on which party instigated the violence. The main causes of violence identified include ineffective communication, long waiting times and perceived unresponsiveness, and enforcement of visiting hours.ConclusionIt is concluded that workplace violence could be reduced through the provision of adequate information to patients and their relatives. Nurses could also be trained in effective communication and interpersonal skills; and on how to identify and avoid potentially violent situations. It is also imperative that policies and measures aimed at addressing workplace violence are instituted to address the problem. Mass education may also be carried out to sensitise the general public on the adverse effects of violence against nurses.
Highlights
This study is part of a larger project aimed at exploring the workplace experiences of nurses working in public general hospitals in Ghana
The six key informants were removed from the analyses as they were not asked about the causes of workplace violence, which is the focus of this paper
All the causes of verbal and physical workplace violence identified in the current paper, i.e. long waiting times and perceived unresponsiveness, perceived favouritism and enforcement of visiting hours could be reduced through good interpersonal and communication skills
Summary
This study is part of a larger project aimed at exploring the workplace experiences of nurses working in public general hospitals in Ghana. The current paper explores the causes of workplace violence against nurses in Ghana. Introduction This paper is the third in a series of six papers aimed at exploring workplace experiences of nurses working in public general hospitals in Ghana. The aim of the current paper is to explore the main causes of workplace physical and verbal abuse against nurses by patients and relatives of patients from nurses’ perspective. Incidence rates of 9%, 12.2% and 52.7% were reported for physical violence, sexual harassment and verbal abuse [5]. The main causes of violence may differ from one context to another based on differences in socio-cultural setting, the organisation of
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