Abstract
BackgroundTo evaluate the impact of a restricted access policy on workplace violence in a healthcare setting.MethodsWe surveyed healthcare workers before and after the implementation of a restricted-access policy at a tertiary hospital in north-eastern China. Data were collected in April 2017 and January 2019. Fisher’s exact test were used to compare the difference in workplace violence prevalence between responses to two surveys. Survey 1 (S1) collected data from 345 healthcare professionals who had worked in the inpatient ward for at least 12 months. Survey 2 (S2) included 338 healthcare workers from the same ward who had been employed for more than two years. The effective response rates for the two studies was 79.31 and 83.25%, respectively. All 18 female security guards were included in the investigation in S2.ResultsThe prevalence of psychological violence was 62.03% in S1 and 34.62% in S2, the difference in prevalence showing statistical significance (P = 0.000), while the prevalence of physical violence was 3.77 and 4.73% respectively, showing no statistical significance (P = 0.573). The change in the rate of injury caused by physical violence was also statistically significant at 76.92 and 31.25% (P = 0.025), respectively. Security guards were at high risk of workplace violence under the policy. Most healthcare professionals thought this policy ameliorated treatment order, the sense of security, anxiety about workplace violence, and so forth, but one-third of the respondents thought that it caused patient dissatisfaction.ConclusionWhile the restricted access policy may be effective for healthcare professionals in avoiding or dealing with violence, such policy could contribute to new problems regarding the safety of security guards and the potential dissatisfaction of patients. The policy should be further developed to alleviate this phenomenon.
Highlights
To evaluate the impact of a restricted access policy on workplace violence in a healthcare setting
The rate of injury caused by physical violence was 76.92 and 31.25% in Survey 1 (S1) and Survey 2 (S2), respectively and Fisher’s exact test shows that the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.025). (Table 3)
We suggest that when a restricted access policy is in place, security guards become scapegoats for the violence that would have been directed at healthcare professionals, resulting in guards facing more frequent and concentrated Workplace violence (WPV)
Summary
To evaluate the impact of a restricted access policy on workplace violence in a healthcare setting. Workplace violence (WPV) in healthcare settings is a worldwide serious issue [1]. In 2004, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers and updated in 2016, which provides an outline for healthcare institutions and researchers for conducting interventions on WPV [4]. 2) organizational level (e.g. policy and the environment of an organization designed to encourage WPV reporting, social support and cooperation from the organization, installation of cameras, improvement of security); 3) personal level (e.g. training and education about communication, identification of the precursors of violence, violence minimization, and de-escalation). Study shows that implementing restructuring environment, improving work organization and staff education simultaneously could reduce WPV [8]
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