Abstract
Healthcare disturbance is a form of workplace violence against healthcare workers perpetrated by patients, their relatives, and gangs hired by them. It is a prevalent phenomenon in China, where evidence suggests that it impacts on the job satisfaction of healthcare workers. This study aims to examine the relationship between healthcare disturbance, surface acting as a response to emotional labour, and depressive symptoms in Chinese healthcare workers. The study adopted a cross-sectional design and used an online survey methodology. Data were collected from 418 doctors and nurses from one hospital in China. The results showed that frequency of healthcare disturbance was positively related to surface acting and depressive symptoms, respectively; surface acting was also positively related to depression, while deep acting showed no effect on symptoms of depression. Furthermore, surface acting in response to emotional labour mediated the relationship between healthcare disturbance and depressive symptoms. The results highlight the importance of preventing healthcare disturbance and of training healthcare staff in strategies for managing emotional demands in reducing depressive symptoms in Chinese healthcare staff.
Highlights
Workplace violence is any “incident where staff are abused, threatened, or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work, including commuting to and from work” [1]
Results indicated that job role showed statistically significant but small associations with surface acting (r = 0.149, n = 418, p = 0.002), deep acting (r = 0.109, n = 418, p = 0.026), and depressive symptoms (r = −0.225, n = 418, p < 0.001), so nurses showed higher levels of surface acting, deep acting, and depressive symptoms compared to physicians; hours worked per week revealed weak correlations with surface acting (r = 0.128, n = 418, p = 0.009) and depressive symptoms (r = 0.163, n = 418, p < 0.001)
The results indicate that regarding the relationships between emotional labour and depressive symptoms, surface acting showed a significantly positive association with depressive symptoms, while there was no association between deep acting and depressive symptoms, which supported H3
Summary
Workplace violence is any “incident where staff are abused, threatened, or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work, including commuting to and from work” [1]. It is categorized into two forms: physical and non-physical violence [2]. In China, there is a specific form of workplace violence called ‘Yi Nao’, which translates as healthcare disturbance [4]. This is defined as violence against healthcare facilities and healthcare staff aimed at achieving financial benefits [5]. Healthcare disturbance has been classified into three categories: verbal violence (including insults, vulgarity, sarcasm, shouting, etc.); physical violence (including punching, slapping, kicking, and other forms of physical assault); and sexual harassment (including unwanted sexual advances or attention) [6]
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