Workplace bullying and workplace violence as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: a multi-cohort study.
To assess the associations between bullying and violence at work and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants were 79201 working men and women, aged 18-65 years and free of CVD and were sourced from three cohort studies from Sweden and Denmark. Exposure to workplace bullying and violence was measured at baseline using self-reports. Participants were linked to nationwide health and death registers to ascertain incident CVD, including coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. Study-specific results were estimated by marginal structural Cox regression and were combined using fixed-effect meta-analysis. Nine percent reported being bullied at work and 13% recorded exposure to workplace violence during the past year. We recorded 3229 incident CVD cases with a mean follow-up of 12.4 years (765 in the first 4 years). After adjustment for age, sex, country of birth, marital status, and educational level, being bullied at work vs. not was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.59 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28-1.98] for CVD. Experiencing workplace violence vs. not was associated with a HR of 1.25 (95% CI 1.12-1.40) for CVD. The population attributable risk was 5.0% for workplace bullying and 3.1% for workplace violence. The excess risk remained similar in analyses with different follow-up lengths, cardiovascular risk stratifications, and after additional adjustments. Dose-response relations were observed for both workplace bullying and violence (Ptrend < 0.001). There was only negligible heterogeneity in study-specific estimates. Bullying and violence are common at workplaces and those exposed to these stressors are at higher risk of CVD.
- Research Article
52
- 10.1111/jocn.16124
- Nov 22, 2021
- Journal of clinical nursing
This scoping review aims to identify whether transition programmes support new graduate nurses and nursing students in terms of dealing with workplace violence, bullying and stress and enhance new graduate nurses' resilience during the transition from education to clinical practice. Many new graduate nurses in their first year of employment experience issues at work such as violence, bullying and stress, which forces them to leave their jobs. Nursing students also experienced these issues during their clinical rotation. However, some hospitals and universities have developed transition programmes to help nursing students and new graduate nurses and ease their transition from education to clinical practice. Although transition programmes have been successful in increasing the retention rate for new graduate nurses, their impact on supporting new graduate nurses and nursing students in dealing with workplace violence, bullying and stress and in enhancing their resilience is unknown. A scoping review of the current literature (with no date limit) using the PRISMA-ScR checklist for reporting scoping reviews was utilised. Following the scoping review framework of Arksey and O'Malley, a broad search (with no date limit) was performed in CINAHL, Scopus, Medline, Web of Science, ASSIA, PsycINFO, Embase, PROSPERO and ProQuest Dissertation databases. Reference lists of the included studies were searched. This review found that most transition programmes provide support for new graduate nurses when dealing with workplace violence, bullying and stress. Transition programmes varied in length, content and implementation. Preceptors' support, educational sessions and safe work environments are the most beneficial elements of transition programmes for supporting new graduate nurses. Education sessions about resilience provide new graduate nurses with knowledge about how to deal and cope with stressful situations in the work environment. We found no studies that focused on nursing students. The paucity of research on transition programmes' impact on workplace violence and bullying means that further research is recommended. This to determine which strategies support nursing students and new graduate nurses in clinical practice and to explore the effect of these programmes on experiences of workplace violence and bullying. Evidence indicates that there is a worldwide gap in how universities and colleges prepare nursing students for transitioning from the education system to clinical practice. New graduate nurses and nurse managers regularly report that their education did not fully provide them with the skills required for their transition to clinical practice. Transition programmes support new graduate nurses to deal with workplace violence and bullying and need to have structured implementation. Ongoing evaluation is required to ensure that the programmes meet the needs of nursing students and new graduate nurses and health organisations, improve new graduate nurses' transition to clinical practice safely, enhance their resilience to overcome issues in the workplace (such as violence, bullying and stress) and reduce their turnover.
- Front Matter
9
- 10.1016/j.jen.2023.02.001
- May 1, 2023
- Journal of Emergency Nursing
Why Won’t It Stop: Workplace Violence in Emergency Care
- Research Article
- 10.1161/circ.135.suppl_1.p253
- Mar 7, 2017
- Circulation
Introduction: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used by an estimated 29 million Americans. PPIs increase the levels of asymmetrical dimethylarginine, a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Data from a select population of patients with CVD suggest that PPI use is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and coronary heart disease. The impact of PPI use on incident CVD is largely unknown in the general population. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that PPI users have a higher risk of incident total CVD, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure compared to nonusers. To demonstrate specificity of association, we additionally hypothesized that there is not an association between use of H 2 -blockers - another commonly used class of medications with similar indications as PPIs - and CVD. Methods: We used the Rochester Epidemiology Project’s medical records-linkage system to identify all residents of Olmsted County, MN on our baseline date of January 1, 2004 (N=140217). We excluded persons who did not grant permission for their records to be used for research, were <18 years old, had a history of CVD, had missing data for any variable included in our model, or had evidence of PPI use within the previous year.We followed our final cohort (N=58175) for up to 12 years. The administrative censoring date for CVD was 1/20/2014, for coronary heart disease was 8/3/2016, for stroke was 9/9/2016, and for heart failure was 1/20/2014. Time-varying PPI ever-use was ascertained using 1) natural language processing to capture unstructured text from the electronic health record, and 2) outpatient prescriptions. An incident CVD event was defined as the first occurrence of 1) validated heart failure, 2) validated coronary heart disease, or 3) stroke, defined using diagnostic codes only. As a secondary analysis, we calculated the association between time-varying H 2 -blocker ever-use and CVD among persons not using H 2 -blockers at baseline. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, race, education, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and body-mass-index, PPI use was associated with an approximately 50% higher risk of CVD (hazard ratio [95% CI]: 1.51 [1.37-1.67]; 2187 CVD events), stroke (hazard ratio [95% CI]: 1.49 [1.35-1.65]; 1928 stroke events), and heart failure (hazard ratio [95% CI]: 1.56 [1.23-1.97]; 353 heart failure events) compared to nonusers. Users of PPIs had a 35% greater risk of coronary heart disease than nonusers (95% CI: 1.13-1.61; 626 coronary heart disease events). Use of H 2 -blockers was also associated with a higher risk of CVD (adjusted hazard ratio [95% CI]: 1.23 [1.08-1.41]; 2331 CVD events). Conclusions: PPI use is associated with a higher risk of CVD, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. Use of a drug with no known cardiac toxicity - H 2 -blockers - was also associated with a greater risk of CVD, warranting further study.
- Research Article
6
- 10.1097/01.numa.0000558480.62072.24
- Aug 1, 2019
- Nursing Management
Addressing workplace violence with the Pathway to Excellence® framework.
- Research Article
1
- 10.3163/1536-5050.96.4.017
- Oct 1, 2008
- Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
Managing Stress and Conflict in Libraries
- Research Article
34
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0207485
- Nov 15, 2018
- PLoS ONE
BackgroundThe prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is high (54%) in Bangladesh. Moreover, female garment workers report higher rates of IPV and are also vulnerable to workplace violence (WPV). Experience of violence puts women at increased risk of developing depressive symptoms, which are related with low self-esteem, lower life satisfaction and lower productivity. To our knowledge, there has been no previous research on depression among female garment workers and its connections to IPV and WPV in Bangladesh. This paper aims to address this gap by studying the relationship of IPV, WPV and depression among female garment workers.MethodsThe data for this paper comes from a cross-sectional survey of female garment workers (n = 800) conducted as baseline survey of a quasi-experimental study known as HERrespect. Survey data were collected during September-December, 2016 among randomly selected female garment workers from eight garment factories in and around Dhaka city. Structural equation modelling was conducted to explore the relationship among IPV, WPV and depression.ResultsThe findings show high rates of any IPV (69%); WPV (73%, experienced or witnessed) and depressive symptomatology (40%) among female garment workers. The analysis of pathways shows that IPV impacts a woman’s experience of WPV and work related stress leading to the development of depression; while WPV had direct and mediated pathways to depression. Experience of controlling by their husband leads to WPV and increased work related stress, and thus leads to depression. It also reveals that a worker’s ability to mobilize resources in emergency, however, increased self-esteem and reduced work related stress.ConclusionThis study shows the pathways through which experience of IPV and WPV lead to development of depressive symptoms among female garment workers. The link between women’s ability to mobilize resources with self-esteem and work related stress indicates the need for socio-economic empowerment of women and may suggest that combined intervention to address IPV and women’s empowerment could be successful in dealing with WPV and mental health.
- Research Article
22
- 10.1111/jocn.13493
- Feb 27, 2017
- Journal of Clinical Nursing
To understand the relation between the experience of violence and sociodemographic and clinical factors, and to determine whether diagnosed depression and the presence of anxiety and stress are related to having experienced workplace and domestic violence in different genders and age groups. Previous studies indicate that domestic and workplace violence increase the risk of suffering from depression. However, no studies have evaluated these two types of violence in a same cohort. We designed a descriptive cross-sectional study from 317 individuals randomly selected from the population in southern Catalonia (Spain). Sociodemographic and Goldberg anxiety-depression questionnaires were administered by telephone survey to 160 men and 157 women in December 2008. The data obtained were analysed by a logistic regression model. A quarter of the individuals had suffered from violence: 48·29% of them had experienced domestic violence and 32·9% had experienced workplace violence. Nearly half of the individuals with depression had experienced violence. No statistical difference has been observed between domestic and workplace violence regarding diagnosed depression. Women were twice as likely as men to have suffered from violence. People working outside their home and those who claimed to have no social support had a greater risk of suffering from violence. A greater consumption of medication, above all of psychotropic drugs, is associated with experiencing violence and with greater comorbidity. Predictive factors for suffering from depression are being women, having experienced violence, having suffered stress or anxiety, having little or no social support, having overload of task or having no secondary education and no tertiary education. This study suggests that when considering depression, anxiety and stress, especially in women, we must take into account whether an individual has suffered violence. Identifying violence can help health professionals, managers and researchers improve care and reduce suffering in families and communities.
- Research Article
19
- 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038893
- Oct 1, 2020
- BMJ Open
IntroductionThe shortage of nurses is projected to grow, and the number of new graduate nurses (NGNs) who are predicted to replace expert nurses has increased. Meanwhile, those NGNs leaving their...
- Research Article
50
- 10.1016/s2468-2667(23)00096-8
- Jun 29, 2023
- The Lancet. Public health
Workplace offensive behaviours, such as violence and bullying, have been linked to psychological symptoms, but their potential impact on suicide risk remains unclear. We aimed to assess the association of workplace violence and bullying with the risk of death by suicide and suicide attempt in multiple cohort studies. In this multicohort study, we used individual-participant data from three prospective studies: the Finnish Public Sector study, the Swedish Work Environment Survey, and the Work Environment and Health in Denmark study. Workplace violence and bullying were self-reported at baseline. Participants were followed up for suicide attempt and death using linkage to national health records. We additionally searched the literature for published prospective studies and pooled our effect estimates with those from published studies. During 1 803 496 person-years at risk, we recorded 1103 suicide attempts or deaths in participants with data on workplace violence (n=205 048); the corresponding numbers for participants with data on workplace bullying (n=191 783) were 1144 suicide attempts or deaths in 1 960 796 person-years, which included data from one identified published study. Workplace violence was associated with an increased risk of suicide after basic adjustment for age, sex, educational level, and family situation (hazard ratio 1·34 [95% CI 1·15-1·56]) and full adjustment (additional adjustment for job demands, job control, and baseline health problems, 1·25 [1·08-1·47]). Where data on frequency were available, a stronger association was observed among people with frequent exposure to violence (1·75 [1·27-2·42]) than occasional violence (1·27 [1·04-1·56]). Workplace bullying was also associated with an increased suicide risk (1·32 [1·09-1·59]), but the association was attenuated after adjustment for baseline mental health problems (1·16 [0·96-1·41]). Observational data from three Nordic countries suggest that workplace violence is associated with an increased suicide risk, highlighting the importance of effective prevention of violent behaviours at workplaces. Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Academy of Finland, Finnish Work Environment Fund, and Danish Working Environment Research Fund.
- Research Article
18
- 10.4103/0366-6999.209888
- Jul 20, 2017
- Chinese Medical Journal
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE IN HEALTH CARE: A CONTINUOUS GLOBAL PROBLEM AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS IN CHINA Workplace violence is a persistent problem in health care worldwide. The victims are usually nurses and workers in the emergency department.[12345678] The academic debate, as it develops overtime, would allow us to gain an integral insight about this problem. The author searched the related research and debate articles in English in PubMed (www.pubmed.com) dated from 1990 to 2016 [Figure 1]. In total, 1899 items with the keywords of "workplace violence," 600 items with "workplace violence healthcare," 786 items with "workplace violence nursing," and 279 items with "workplace violence emergency" (there is some overlap between these four groups) have been published.Figure 1: Workplace violence papers searched by keywords in PubMed from 1990 to 2016. Papers included in http://www.pubmed.com. Here shows the account of items from 1990 to 2016 when searched with "workplace violence" (blue), "workplace violence healthcare" (red), "workplace violence nursing" (green), and "workplace violence emergency" (violet), respectively.Workplace violence in health care has become a prominent social problem in China in the recent years. A survey conducted by the China Hospital Association in 2012 showed that 96% of the hospitals investigated had verbal violence and as much as 60% had experienced physical violence.[9] Another survey in 2012 showed that more than 50% of the 2464 respondents in 12 hospitals from 2 provinces had experienced workplace violence and the rate of physical assault was 11%.[10] According to a survey conducted in 2014, 12.6% of 840 respondents admitted being physically attacked at their workplace in that past 12 months.[11] Direct care providers, including physicians and nurses, are more prone to suffer from physical assaults.[11] However, violence, including fatal physical assault, affects nearly all Chinese health-care professionals.[121314] In addition, "medical mobs"–a group of people gathered at health care facilities threatening medical staff and create chaos for large compensation instead of the settlement of medical disputes–disturb medical working environment, although more often than not, they do not resort to violence.[1516] Statistical analysis by the Ministry of Health showed that more than 17,000 violent affairs had occurred in 2010.[17] In 2015, the Supreme People's Procuratorate summarized features of violence at hospitals as follows: occur frequently and suddenly with serious consequences, have a wide impact on the public, need urgent attention and handling, cause serious damage, and pose continuous potential dangers.[18] Thus, being employed as a hospital staff, especially as a direct care provider, is now considered a dangerous job in China. NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE ON THE STAFF AND PATIENT OUTCOMES Frequent instances of workplace violence have direct and indirect negative consequences on both the staff and patients, including compromised patient care.[19] Violence and inadequate managerial care after violent incidents may reduce nurses' proficiency, which could have negative implications for patient care.[20] Physical violence against care providers has been associated with patient falls, medication errors, and late administration of medications.[2021] Numerous studies have documented experiences of violent incidents resulting in severe psychological distress, increased work stress, and reduced work efficiency.[2223242526] Violence in the health sector is also associated with job dissatisfaction and turnover intention among care professionals.[2728] Both bullying and physical violence have led to increased turnover intention. Shortage of physicians and long waiting time for visits and treatment are challenges faced by China's health care, and these are also some of the reasons for workplace violence.[17] Chinese medical staff faces heavy workload, providing service to one-fourth of the world's population. An investigation by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association in 2009 showed that more than 60% of the registered physicians were not satisfied with the working environment. The Ministry of Health statistics in 2008 showed that 1 million people had acquired physicians' license in the past 6 years; however, 40% of them did not register.[17] If this situation continues, Chinese patients will have to face a further shortage of physicians.[29] Moreover, the practice of defensive medicine among physicians in Chinese hospitals has been reported for years. This may also have negative implication for doctor–patient relationship and subsequently contribute to the incidences of violence against health-care professionals. The author conducted a survey in 13 hospitals of Beijing from July 2007 to March 2008 that showed most of the respondents' (83.0%, n = 811) practiced defensive behavior, and defensive practices were significantly associated with their experience of complaints (P = 0.0318) and medical negligence claims (P < 0.0001). Notably, even in emergency cases, a surprisingly high percentage of the physicians (43.3%, n = 811) had a negative attitude toward first aid when the patient was not accompanied by any family member; they would not implement invasive treatment without the consent in writing from the patient's families, even if the patient needs the treatment as prompt first aid. Instead, they chose to wait for the signed consent or followed the manager's decision. Defensive behavior is becoming more widespread due to the frequency of violent incidents. A written informed consent by the patient or his family for any operation, special examination, or special treatment is required by Tort Law of China, making the situation even worse. When the author gave lectures during Beijing resident training on courses of law and regulations from 2015 to 2016, a rough statistical analysis of the emergency question showed that less than 20 of the 1200 residents who attended the courses showed no hesitation to provide prompt invasive treatment to the patients on basis of the patients' interests rather than a written consent form. Ultimately, it is the patients who end up paying for the violence. GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO PREVENT WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AND THE RESULTING OUTCOMES The Chinese government has been exploring various ways to prevent workplace violence in health care, especially in the recent years. For example, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Security had called for the protection of health-care professionals from suffering violence in a joint notice as a response to the fatal violence at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University.[30] In addition, the Supreme Court, on April 24, 2014, announced the decision to work together with four-related departments to penalize those responsible for workplace violence in hospitals. The notice listed six kinds of violent behaviors that hurt doctors or disturb/disrupt the daily operation of hospitals, including carrying dangerous materials or threatening medical staff. Despite the presence of security officers in some hospitals for assistance, the situation has continued to deteriorate in the recent times. Wei Xiao, a spokesperson of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, stated on June 24, 2015 that more than 10 cases of violence against doctors were reported by the media within 20 days in China, only 2 days before the fifth Chinese Doctor's Day.[31] Under the Amendment of Criminal Law in effect from October 1, 2015, those who organize or participate in medical mobs will face criminal penalties if their violent behavior disturbs work order seriously and causes heavy losses. However, preventive measures for workplace violence have not proved to be entirely effective. Bullying, physical assault, and serious personality insult still occur occasionally.[13151632] Recently, Li Baohua, a pediatrician of Shandong Laiwu Steel Group Hospital, was stabbed 27 times and killed by a patient's family member causing serious injuries.[33] This heinous violent behavior happened exactly 1 year after the Amendment of Criminal Law was in effect. A female physician was also stabbed for no reason,[14] only a few days after, "the Opinion on Performing the Procuratorial Functions Fully to Provide a Strong Judicial Support for Promoting healthy China" was published on September 29, 2016.[34] In this opinion, the Supreme People's Procuratorate stresses that they will intensify the crackdown on criminal behavior against medical staff to ensure normal medical order and safety of medical personnel. It appears that the government's efforts were not very effective. LEGAL AND ETHICAL REASONS BEHIND FAILURE OF PREVENTIVE MEASURES Even criminal penalty has been unable to prevent violence in health care. Insufficient investment in the health system, lack of communication between health professionals and patients, negative media reports, and unrealistic patient expectations from treatments may be the reasons for this. However, the government may not have realized that the factors described below are important reasons that directly cause and worsen workplace violence and promote medical mobs as well. Unfair and time-consuming litigation process of medical negligence claims Many people prefer not making claims due to the fear of failure and prolonged course for arbitration of disputes; instead, they sort to medical mobs and behaviors alike. If people suffer an injury during treatment under a medical service, they can allege medical negligence. However, litigation procedure for medical negligence is a time-consuming process that usually lasts several years, especially for complicated disputes. As a part of structured retrospective reviews, Li et al. analyzed 1086 medical dispute lawsuits from 1998 to 2011 from a nationwide database in China.[35] Results suggested that the average time span between the occurrence of disputes and issue decision was 3 years;[35] nearly 76% of the claims in negligence received compensation under civil judgment (640 of 841) although fault liability was not confirmed in 7% of these claims (43 of 640).[35] In general, the judges cannot make a decision by themselves about the professional problems of medical disputes, and they usually arrive at a decision based on the conclusions issued by a judicial authentication of the claims. Thus, the patients and their family have to wait for a long time for the compensation through litigation. Such legal proceedings are not established under patient-centered ethical considerations. Apparently, patients in urgent need of subsequent treatment cannot benefit from compensations through litigations. Moreover, patients who fail in the court do not get compensation and end up paying the litigation costs. "Successful" resolution of negligence claims by medical mobs Research shows that only about 5.4–25.3% of medical disputes have been solved by litigation.[35363738] Many of the "successful" negligence claims are the result of medical mobs. This factor not only contributes to workplace violence but also to the origin of medical mobs. There are several reasons for the popularity of medical mobs. First, the staff, including some managers in China's hospitals, has always adopted an evasive and conciliatory attitude and preferred to resolute disputes with money when they encounter disputes with patients. Such an attitude invited medical mobs, which had been proven quite effective in medical disputes–amount of compensation or indemnity depends on the extent of trouble caused by the mobs rather than the extent of the medical damage.[39] This has gradually led to the proliferation of medical mobs. From the year 2000 to 2012, at least 150 medical violence cases that caused more than 30 deaths have been reported by the media. However, it is regrettable that most of the hospitals chose to terminate the disputes monetarily.[35] The staff prioritizes quick resolution of disputes, and consequently, they often pay a substantial amount of money for little or even no negligence. Second, through communication with physicians and managers, the author found that some hospitals have even formulated some unfair rules to avoid disputes, such as "a doctor or nurse will be punished for a complaint or dispute, no matter whether he or she is at fault." Such unjustified rules ignore feelings of medical staff. When patients and their families realize they can obtain more money quickly by threats and violence, litigation became less popular. The tolerance and forgiveness for patients and their families worsen the situation Palliative attitudes of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and Public Security Forces and misleading media reports worsen the situation. On June 24, 2015, the Supreme People's Procuratorate stated that they would treat medical mobs differently–"Procuratorate at all levels will try to promote reconciliation when the medical mobs are patients or their relatives; on the contrary, they will attack professional mobs." The Supreme People's Procuratorate's statement shows different attitudes to violence from medical mobs and patients' families. That difference and the weakness of security personnel are mistakenly attributed to the government's tolerance of violence from patients and their families. A survey showed that only 28% of public security personnel provided active help to resolve violent incidents resulting from medical disputes[35] despite a cross-sectional survey showed 22.6% and 62.3% of the perpetrators of physical assaults were patients and their relatives, respectively.[11] In addition, forgiveness and tolerance of the patients and their family's violent behavior showed in the media reports are looked on as an encouragement of the future violence. Media reports on violence also mislead people–these reports seldom discuss the truth behind the violence and the potential legal liability of such behaviors, which directly worsen the medical working environment. SUGGESTIONS FOR PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AND MEDICAL MOBS It is important for the Chinese government to evaluate and implement alternative strategies to address workplace violence. Stringent guidelines may play a significant role in preventing workplace violence and fatal assaults.[40414243] Active postviolence management for relieve the pressure on the staff is as important. However, continuing violence has highlighted that the policies and actions taken by the government cannot entirely resolve the problem. Following are a few suggestions for resolving this issue: A law- and evidence-based process for medical disputes should be established It is usually the patients or their families who are responsible for most physical assaults and fatal violence incidents.[11] Although the aim of medical mobs is to create chaos at workplaces and exert pressure and they seldom cause fatal harm to the staff, the tolerance of violence stemming from patients is a barrier to preventing workplace violence. The medical staff deserves protection by the law as citizens. The Supreme People's Procuratorate's statement on treating mob violence differently is a breach of the principles of law. The Procuratorate has a criminal law in place for violent behavior, and treating physical assaults and fatal violence in hospitals differently is, thus, a breach of criminal law. To prevent workplace violence effectively, the government should change this attitude. The Procuratorate and courts need to treat all physicians, patients, and medical mobs as citizens, and address violence and mob incidents under a common principle of law. In addition, the media should report impartially and encourage people to resolve disputes through negotiation and legally prescribed ways. Moreover, tracking reports are needed to inform people of the investigated results and the subsequent penalty for the violence. Alternative dispute resolutions should be introduced in medical disputes Besides building a law- and evidence-based dispute resolution process and environment, the government should develop multiple alternative dispute resolutions (ADRs), such as arbitration and mediation, which have been confirmed to be successful in settling medical disputes in other countries.[4445] Meditation is the most common method of ADR, and it has been confirmed to be the most effective method when supported by organizational commitment and conducted by independent, experienced, and qualified mediators in workplace conflict[46] and has successfully addressed a part of the medical disputes in China in the recent years.[47] Arbitration, which has more advantages than mediation, however, is commonly applied only in economic disputes in China. Arbitration can address a dispute quickly and make decisions through a team of professional experts and lawyers. Choice of arbitration authority can help in reaching an agreement between the parties easily. Moreover, the decision is legally enforceable. Thus, arbitration can resolve medical disputes effectively and efficiently. Arbitration is a potentially feasible pathway for medical disputes resolution. A survey conducted in 2008 showed that both medical staff (83%) and patients (67.69%) considered that a fair and reasonable decision of medical disputes should be made by a group, which comprised multi-field professionals, especially including both medical professionals and lawyers (74.61% of doctors and 55.26% of patients).[45] In addition, the majority of doctors and patients (57.6%, 51.3%) chose to resolve the dispute through a variety of ways; nearly 28.40% of doctors and 15.86% of patients chose arbitration to solve the disputes, even when arbitration was not a very popular option for the people.[45] Face high-risk in medical work with active managements and attitudes Healthcare worksites should develop specific plans to minimize and prevent workplace violence. Hospital managers and front-line health-care workers should actively participate in implementing such programs. To eradicate medical mobs, the medical staff must change their attitude and principles during a dispute resolution process, which will also benefit the establishment of law- and evidence-based process to solve disputes. Violence, especially by medical mobs, will reduce and finally stop when they can obtain nothing except punishment. In addition, the medical staff should be encouraged to discuss high-risk medical treatment with the patients. They should explain the potential risks to the patients and also share undesirable prognosis and outcomes with them. Even when things do not go well as expected, hospital and staff should tell the truth. Most patients or relatives often simply want the truth and an explanation. The staff should not be afraid of sharing their failure with the patients and the public. The staff should not expect patients to face the risk of medicine and the possible adverse results when they would not want to face and accept the risks. The patients and the public can understand the position of the medical staff only if they understand the limitations of medicine. Media should play a positive role in the patient–physician relationship Media should undertake their due social responsibility. Fundamentally, three tasks are imperative for the media to carry out. First, workplace violence incidents should be reported objectively, with the background of medical technology and legal provisions, thus improving the medical knowledge of law among the masses. Second, subsequent processes of the violent incidents, especially the legal consequences of medical violence and the court verdict, should be reported promptly, thus letting people know the legal responsibilities and consequences of violent behavior against health-care professionals. Third, promoting the popularization of medical science among the public through self-media, such as microblogging platforms and messaging resources, should be encouraged; however, information about the deficiency and limitation of the existing clinical diagnoses and treatment technologies should be predominantly provided. Thus, the patients and their family can gradually realize the truth that what the doctors can do for treating human diseases is limited. Conclusively, workplace violence in health care has had a negative influence on patient safety and progress of health care in China. The government needs to explore strategies and plans for effective prevention of violence and medical mobs in health care. The government and hospitals should realize the underlying reasons behind the violence and find ways to address them. Most importantly, the government should establish a law- and evidence-based dispute resolution process and environment and develop effective ADRs, which include introducing arbitration into medical disputes to provide fairness and justice to both medical staff and patients. The patients and their families should be provided opportunities to understand the limitations of medicine. The patients, public, and government will be the ultimate beneficiaries of a safe health-care environment. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.
- Research Article
- 10.1186/s13098-024-01425-6
- Jul 29, 2024
- Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome
BackgroundObesity is known as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is an absence of preoperative cardiac risk assessment in bariatric surgery candidates and the incidence of CVD among these high-risk patients is still unknown.MethodsA consecutive series of bariatric surgery candidates at two Chinese tertiary hospitals received coronary CT angiography or coronary angiography from 2017 to 2023. Patients were categorized as metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) and metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) based on the presence or absence of MetS. CVD was diagnosed based on the maximum intraluminal stenosis > 1% in any of the segments of the major epicardial coronary arteries. Obstructive CVD was defined as coronary stenosis ≥ 50%. Binary multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze the association between CVD and metabolic status. The number of principal MetS components was categorized into zero (without glycemic, lipid, and BP components), one (with one of the components), two (with any two components), and three (with all components) to explore their association with CVD.ResultsA total of 1446 patients were included in the study. The incidence of CVD and obstructive CVD were 31.7% and 9.6%. Compared with MHO patients, MUO patients had a significantly higher incidence of mild (13.7% vs. 6.1%, P < 0.05), moderate (7.4% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.05), and severe CVD (3.1% vs. 0%, P < 0.05). Following complete adjustment, compared with zero or one component, two principal MetS components was found to be associated with a notable increase in the risk of CVD (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.18–3.58, P < 0.05); three principal MetS components were observed to have a higher risk of CVD and obstructive CVD (OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.56–4.62, P < 0.001; OR 3.93, 95% CI 1.19–12.93, P < 0.05). Each increase in the number of principal MetS components correlated with a 1.47-fold (95% CI 1.20–1.81, P < 0.001) and 1.78-fold (95% CI 1.24–2.55, P < 0.05) higher risk of CVD and obstructive CVD, respectively.ConclusionThis study reported the incidence of CVD based on multicenter bariatric surgery cohorts. CVD is highly prevalent in patients with obesity, especially in MUO patients. Increased number of principal MetS components will significantly elevate the risk of CVD.
- Research Article
21
- 10.1057/palgrave.sj.8340058
- Jul 1, 2000
- Security Journal
Job Watch is an Australian community legal centre that specialises in employment law. It has been providing employees in the state of Victoria with advice and assistance in relation to violence at work since 1994. The form of workplace violence in particular that Job Watch has been campaigning on and researching into is internally focused, and perpetrated exclusively by someone employed within the workplace. It is on this background experience of practitioners advising and assisting victims of workplace violence that this paper is based. It aims to provide an examination of the issues relevant to employee safety when dealing with workplace violence or workplace bullying. It also provides a brief overview of the key issues in relation to the prevention of both workplace bullying and workplace violence, focusing in particular on potential risk factors revealed by international research.
- Research Article
26
- 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604769
- Oct 17, 2022
- International journal of public health
Objectives: To investigate burnout among Bangladeshi nurses and the factors that influence it, particularly the association of workplace bullying (WPB) and workplace violence (WPV) with burnout. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from 1,264 Bangladeshi nurses. Mixed-effects Poisson regression models were fitted to find the adjusted association between WPB, WPV, and burnout. Results: Burnout was found to be prevalent in 54.19% of 1,264 nurses. 61.79% of nurses reported that they had been bullied, and 16.3% of nurses reported experience of "intermediate and high" levels of workplace violence in the previous year. Nurses who were exposed to "high risk bullying" (RR = 2.29, CI: 1.53-3.41) and "targeted bullying" (RR = 4.86, CI: 3.32-7.11) had a higher risk of burnout than those who were not. Similarly, WPV exposed groups at "intermediate and high" levels had a higher risk of burnout (RR = 3.65, CI: 2.40-5.56) than WPV non-exposed groups. Conclusion: Nurses' burnout could be decreased if issues like violence and bullying were addressed in the workplace. Hospital administrators, policymakers, and the government must all promote and implement an acceptable working environment.
- Research Article
45
- 10.1111/ijn.12792
- Dec 10, 2019
- International Journal of Nursing Practice
We examined Korean nurses professional quality of life, emotional labour and workplace violence to guide development of interventions to improve nurses professional quality of life. Nurses face heavy exposure to emotional labour and workplace violence. Stress experienced by nurses reduces compassion satisfaction and increases compassion fatigue. Participants comprised 399 clinical nurses chosen by convenience sampling. Questionnaires measured demographic characteristics, emotional labour, workplace violence and professional quality of life. Nurses professional quality of life was affected by emotional labour and workplace violence. Graduate educational level, emotional exposure and emotional supervision were associated with compassion satisfaction. Burnout was commonly associated with emotional exposure, experience and supervision of workplace violence. Secondary traumatic stress was associated with emotional exposure and experience of workplace violence. We elucidated the relationship between professional quality of life, emotional labour and workplace violence. Raising professional quality of life among nurses requires regular analysis of emotional labour and provision of organizational-level interventions. Counselling programmes that address violence prevention education and comprehensive response strategies among nurses and policies that foster an organizational culture of respect and cooperation in hospitals are needed.
- Research Article
16
- 10.1331/japha.2009.08120
- Jul 1, 2009
- Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
Evaluation of community health screening participants' knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors