Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the possible relationship between physical and psychological aggression suffered in the workplace and professional burnout, depression and anxiety suffered by healthcare professionals of the emergency services. Methods: 315 physicians, nurses, orderlies and ambulance drivers of Critical Care and Emergency Devices (CCED) in the Andalusian Public Health System, in the province of Granada (Spain) participated. They were interviewed about the exposure to violence at work and answered a battery of questions that measured burnout, depression and anxiety. Results: Physical aggression was significantly related to emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment at work, depression and anxiety. Psychological aggression was associated with personal accomplishment. Logistic regression showed that the CCED professionals who have suffered physical aggression were 4.2 and 2.6 times more likely to have suffered anxiety and reduced personal accomplishment, respectively, than those who did not suffer physical aggression. On the other hand, feelings of anxiety and reduced personal accomplishment increase the professionals’ risk (3.4 and 2.1 times more likely, respectively) of suffering from physical aggression. Conclusion: The results suggest that exposure to violence is related to the other psychological problems tested: emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment (two components of burnout), depression and anxiety. In addition, physical violence is a risk factor for anxiety and diminished personal accomplishment of the CCED professionals.
Highlights
Workplace violence is universal in the health sector, local characteristics may vary
Taking into consideration that emergency departments are identified as a place where workers are disproportionally exposed to violence compared to their counterparts in other departments [1,4,7,11], the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between physical and psychological aggression in the workplace and anxiety, depression and burnout, as suffered by healthcare professionals in the Critical Care and Emergency Devices of the Andalusian Health Service (Spain)
It was found that exposure to physical aggression was associated with anxiety (p = 0.000), personal accomplishment (p = 0.006), emotional exhaustion (p = 0.025), and depression (p = 0.19)
Summary
Workplace violence is universal in the health sector, local characteristics may vary. There are two types of workplace violence: physical violence, which refers to the use of physical force against another person or group that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm. Psychological violence, which refers to the intentional use of power, includes threat of physical force against another person or group that can result in harm to physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. This includes verbal abuse, uncivil behavior, lack of respect, disparaging attitude, intimidation, mobbing, harassment, and threats [1]
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