2014 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 171-176
In creating a favorable and safe working environment for healthcare workers, grasping the existence of workplace violence instigated by patients or their relatives is an important issue which also requires further investigation into preventive and reduction scheme. However, little is known about any detailed modes of workplace violence in hospitals. The aim of this study is to reveal the detailed modes of workplace violence in hospitals, to identify the modes of violence which relate to healthcare worker's stress response, and to examine environmental factors which relate to the experience of that violence.
A questionnaire-based, anonymous, and self-administered survey was conducted at 18 hospitals from February to October 2012. Generalized linear mixed model was used to examine a relationship between workplace violence and stress response, and a relationship between experience of workplace violence and work environment.
Among the modes of violence, six types of violence were related to nurses' stress response：being physically kicked’, ‘having personality or abilities put down’, ‘verbally abused on physical appearances’, ‘given unfounded complaint or unfair demands’, ‘being sexually touched on arms or legs’ and ‘being demanded for sexual acts’. These six types of violence related to the respondents'work place assessment of psychiatric wards, outpatient units, dialysis units, night shift, a feeling of manpower shortage and patient safety evaluation.
A further investigation of the circumstances that trigger patient's violence is required to construct preventive measures against each mode of violent act.
