Is Being an Emergency Service Professional a Risk Factor For Violence in Healthcare?

ali avcı , MUHAMMET RAŞİT ÖZER , Mehmet Emre Ay

  • ali avcı: karaman eğitim ve araştırması hastanesi
  • MUHAMMET RAŞİT ÖZER: KARAMANOĞLU MEHMETBEY ÜNİVERSİTESİ
  • Mehmet Emre Ay: Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi
  • Year : 2024
  • Vol : 40
  • Issue : 1
  •  Page : 39-44
ABSTRACT
Aim: Violent incidents have become an increasing problem in our hospitals. Many violent incidents cause devastating damage to healthcare personnel. In this study, we aimed to examine the etiological differences between physical and verbal violence in violent incidents seen in hospitals, and especially whether being an emergency service professional has an effect on physical and verbal violence. 
Materials and Method: Four-year white code case records between 2018 and 2022 in a tertiary hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The type and setting of violence, the gender, and the occupation of the perpetrator were recorded. The cases were divided into two groups: physical violence and verbal violence. The collected data were compared between the groups. 
Results: During the indicated period, 231 cases of code white were reported. While 51.9% of those affected by violence were men, the mean age was 33 (28-40). Physicians were the most common professional group affected by violence, with 102 individuals (44.2%). The most common site of violence was the emergency service, at 54.5%. The rate of physical violence in the emergency department was found to be higher than verbal violence (63.9%-51.2%), although it was not statistically significant. In cases of physical violence, the proportion of the individual exposed to violence being male was statistically significantly higher than in cases of verbal violence (43/61(70.5%), 77/170(%47) <0,001). The proportion of female perpetrators of verbal violence was statistically significantly higher than that of physical violence (35/170(20.6%), 3/61(4.9%), <0,001).
Conclusion: In our study, it was found that those exposed to physical violence were mostly men. It has been determined that women use verbal violence more than physical violence. Physicians were more exposed to verbal violence. In addition, although the propotion of emergency room location in physical violence incidents was higher than in verbal violence incidents, the difference was not found to be statistically significant.
Keywords: Physical violence, verbal violence, code white, emergency service
Cite this Article As : Avci A, Ozer MR, Ay ME. Is Being an Emergency Service Professional a Risk Factor For Violence in Healthcare? Selcuk Med J 2024;40(1): 39-44

Download Citation: Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) RIS File

Download Citation: BibTeX BibTeX File

Conflict of interest : The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
This article is published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Selcuk Medical Journal
2024, Vol. 40 (1)
ISSN: 1017-6616
E-ISSN: 2149-8059
Received : , Accepted : , Published Online :

References

  1. 1.ALBashtawy M, Aljezawi M. Emergency nurses’ perspective of workplace violence in Jordanian hospitals: A national survey. Int Emerg Nurs. 2016;24:61-5.
  2. 2.Abou-ElWafa HS, El-Gilany A-H, Abd-El-Raouf SE et al. Workplace violence against emergency versus non-emergency nurses in Mansoura university hospitals, Egypt. J Interpers Violence. 2015;30(5):857-72.
  3. 3.Ferri P, Silvestri M, Artoni C et al. Workplace violence in different settings and among various health professionals in an Italian general hospital: a cross-sectional study. Psychology Research and Behavior Management. 2016;9:263–75.
  4. 4.Hedayati Emam G, Alimohammadi H, Zolfaghari Sadrabad A et al. Workplace violence against residents in emergency department and reasons for not reporting them; a cross sectional study. Emerg (Tehran, Iran) [Internet] 2018;6:e7. Available from: http://wwwncbinlmnihgov/pubmed/29503832 . Last cited on 2020 Feb 05. - PMC – PubMed.
  5. 5.Chen C, Huang C, Chen C. The relationship of health-related quality of life to workplace physical violence against nurses by psychiatric patients. Qual Life Res. 2010;19:1155–61.
  6. 6.Pich J, Hazelton M, Sundin D et al. Patient-related violence against emergency department nurses. Nurs. Health Sci. 2010; 12: 268–74.
  7. 7.Esmaeilpour, M., Salsali, M., & Ahmadi, F. Workplace violence against Iranian nurses working in emergency departments. International Nursing Review, 2011; 58, 130-137.
  8. 8.Erkol H, Gökdoğan MR, Erkol Z et al. Aggression and violence towards health care providers–a problem in Turkey? Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 2007;14(7):423–8.
  9. 9.Taylor JL, Rew L. A systematic review of the literature: workplace violence in the emergency department. Journal of clinical nursing. 2011;20(7‐8):1072–85.
  10. 10.Kumari A, Kaur T, Ranjan P et al. Workplace violence against doctors: Characteristics, risk factors, and mitigation strategies. J Postgrad Med. 2020 Jul-Sep; 66(3): 149–154.
  11. 11.https://beyazkod.saglik.gov.tr/KullanimKilavuzu.pdf
  12. 12.Ullah R, Siddiqui F, Zafar MS et al. Bullying experiences of dental interns working at four dental institutions of a developing country: A cross-sectional study. Work. 2018;61:91–100.
  13. 13.Arnetz JE, Hamblin L, Russell J et al. Preventing patient-to- worker violence in hospitals: Outcome of a randomized controlled intervention. J Occup Environ Med. 2017;59:18–27.
  14. 14.Singh G, Sharma S, Gautam PL et al. Questionnaire-based evaluation of factors leading to patient-physician distrust and violence against healthcare workers. Indian J Crit Care Med. 2019;23:302–9.
  15. 15.Jiao M, Ning N, Li Y et al. Workplace violence against nurses in Chinese hospitals: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open. 2015;5(3):e006719.
  16. 16.Park M, Cho SH, Hong HJ. Prevalence and perpetrators of workplace violence by nursing unit and the relationship between violence and the perceived work environment. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2015;47(1):87–95.
  17. 17.Alameddine M, Mourad Y, Dimassi H. A national study on nurses’ exposure to occupational violence in Lebanon: prevalence, consequences and associated factors. PLoS One. 2015;10(9):e0137105.
  18. 18.Liu J, Gan Y, Jiang H et al. Prevalence of workplace violence against healthcare workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Occup Environ Med. 2019;76:927–37.
  19. 19.Winstanley S. and Whittington R. Aggression towards Health Care Staff in a UK General Hospital: Variation among Professions and Departments. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2004;13(1): 3-10.
  20. 20.Şahin B, Gaygısız Ş, Balcı F et al. Yardımcı Acil Sağlık Personeline Yönelik Şiddet. Türkiye Acil Tıp Dergisi 2011;11(3):110-114.
  21. 21.Kitaneh M, Hamdan M. Workplace violence against physicians and nurses in Palestinian public hospitals: a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:469.
  22. 22.Ergün F S, Karadakovan A. Violence towards nursing staff in emergency departments in one Turkish city. International Nursing Review, 2005; 52, 154-160.
  23. 23.Bıçkıcı F. Sağlık Çalışanlarına Yönelik Şiddet ve Neden Olan Faktörler: Bir Devlet Hastanesi Örneği. Sağlıkta Performans ve Kalite Dergisi 2013;5 (1), 43-56. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/spkd/issue/29273/313442
  24. 24.AbuAIRub RF, Al Khawaldeh AT. Workplace physical violence among hospital nurses and physicians in underserved areas in Jordan. J Clin Nurs. 2014;23(13–14):1937–1947.
  25. 25.Behnam M, Tillotson RD, Davis SM et al. Violence in the emergency department: a national survey of emergency medicine residents and attending physicians. J Emerg Med. 2011;40(5):565–579.
  26. 26.Camerino D, Estryn-Behar M, Conway PM et al. Work-related factors and violence among nursing staff in the European NEXT study: a longitudinal cohort study. Int J Nurs Stud. 2008;45(1):35–50.
  27. 27.Hahn S, Müller M, Hantikainen V et al. Risk factors associated with patient and visitor violence in general hospitals: results of a multiple regression analysis. Int J Nurs Stud. 2013;50(3):374–385.
  28. 28.Gillespie GL, Gates DM, Miller M et al. Workplace violence in healthcare settings: risk factors and protective strategies. Rehabil Nurs. 2010;35(5):177–184.
  29. 29.Hamdan M, Abu Hamra A. Workplace violence towards workers in the emergency departments of Palestinian hospitals: a cross-sectional study. Hum Resour Health. 2015;13:28.
  30. 30.Zampieron A, Galeazzo M, Turra S et al. Perceived aggression towards nurses: study in two Italian health institutions. J Clin Nurs. 2010;19(15–16):2329–2341.
  31. 31.Kumar M, Verma M, Das T et al. A study of workplace violence experienced by doctors and associated risk factors in a tertiary care hospital of south Delhi, India. J Clin Diagnostic Res. 2016;10:LC06–10.
  32. 32.Guglielmetti C, Gilardi S, Licata M et al. The healthcare operators’ experience with aggressive patients and their visitors: a cross-sectional study in four clinical departments. Med Lav. 2016;107(3):223–234.
  33. 33.Gerberich S G, Church T R, McGovern P M et al. An Epidemiological Study of the Magnitude and Consequences of Work Related Violence: The Minnesota Nurses’ Study. Occupational Environmental Medicine 2004; 61(6): 495–503.
  34. 34.Ayrancı U, Yenilmez Ç, Balcı Y et al. Identification of Violence in Turkish Health Care Settings. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2006; 21(2): 276-296.
  35. 35.Pompeii LA, Schoenfisch AL, Lipscomb HJ et al. Physical assault, physical threat, and verbal abuse perpetrated against hospital workers by patients or visitors in six U.S. hospitals. Am J Ind Med. 2015;58(11):1194–1204.
  36. 36.Almvik R, Rasmussen K, Woods P. Challenging behaviour in the elderly-monitoring violent incidents. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006;21(4):368–374.
  37. 37.Yıldız M S. Türkiye’de Sağlık Çalışanlarına Yönelik Şiddet: Ankara İlinde Araştırma. Hacettepe Journal of Health Administration, 2019; 22(1): 135-156
  38. 38.Naldan M E, Karayağmurlu A, Yayık M et al. Burnout, Job Satisfaction, Depression on the Healthcare Professionals Working in the Operation Room. Selcuk Med J 2019;35(3): 152-158.