Workplace Violence in the Health Sector: Focus on the Argentinean context

Abstract

Workplace violence is classified according to the focus of analysis: type of aggression (physical, psychological, and sexual) and according to the perpetrator (internal violence, if it is a member of the organization and external when it is a user or his/her companions). The impact on the worker's health is severe; the psychological damage is the first to be registered, with all the progressive symptoms of stress: cognitive disorders - loss of immediate memory, dispersion of attention and concentration, permanent state of alertness, self-reproach, anguish, depression, exhaustion, sensation of unreality, fantasies of annihilation, fragmentation of identity, sleep disorders and conflict with affective relationships and bonds of belonging. The studies analyzed show that the effects of aggression are varied and will depend on the frequency and severity of the episodes and the vulnerability caused by the number of episodes, which cause deterioration in the quality of care, suffering, and illness of those involved, thus affecting not only the personnel involved but also having repercussions on their families and the environment outside the workplace. Therefore, it is essential to investigate and analyze the factors involved in the different situations that arise and thus be able to intervene promptly. Statistics show that violence is more frequent the younger the staff is and more frequent in the case of women. It is also evident that not only age and sex are the factors that have the most significant impact on acts of violence, but other variants, such as nationality, place of work, and position held, influence the moment of being victims of aggression in the work environment.