Health care professionals' well-being can be greatly compromised by violence in their work environment, which is an extremely serious issue. Due to their prolonged encounters with clients and their families, nurses are more likely to experience violence than other healthcare professionals.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), violence refers to "an intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."This study aims to investigate factors that can prevent workplace violence against staff nurses.
One of the major contributing factors to violence is negligence in documenting and reporting such assaults.A research study was conducted in Slovenia revealed that “nurses reported violent incidents in formal written ranging from 6.5% (psychological violence) to 10.9% (physical violence). (Song et al., 2021)
Nurses must be encouraged to report any incidence of violence immediately, and there should be a proper system in place to report such an incidence. This evidence will help in identifying patterns and promoting strategies to prevent future occurrences.
Compared to other healthcare settings, nurses working in emergency and psychiatric departments are more likely to experience violence.Despite all these advancements in the health care system and technology, safety and security at the workplace are still a growing concern for nurses, and it is one of their major failures to ensure their employees' safety.Because of an excessive number of patients, a shortage of resources, a severe workload, and social pressure, public-sector nurses confront additional difficulties when it comes to being secure and safe.In Psychiatric Hospital, A study result showed that “44% of nurses report experiencing physical abuse and 70% report experiencing emotional abuse.”(Campbell et al., 2019)
Workplace violence is the intended behaviour of clients and their relatives and It is the responsibility of hospital management to properly communicate with all hospital staff, patients, visitors, and their relatives regarding the zero-tolerance policy and ensure the appropriate consequences are enforced for those involved in violent behaviour.It is the right of healthcare professionals that hospital management ensure their safety and security at work.
In conclusion, workplace violence offers a serious risk to both the mental and physical well-being of staff nurses. Victims may feel burned out, stressed, and insecure at work, which may increase absenteeism, reduce job satisfaction, and make them ready to leave their profession. Now is the time to raise our voices to ensure their wellbeing and safety at work by providing proper security, implementing policies and guidelines to minimise these assaults, and making nurses feel safe and supported. As the backbone of the medical system, nursing staff are essential to care delivery, patient safety, discussion of health-related topics, and raising client standards and wellbeing.
References:
Al‐Qadi, Mahmoud Mustafa. “Workplace Violence in Nursing: A Concept Analysis.” Journal of Occupational Health 63, no. 1 (January 2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12226.
Campbell, Vashti L. S., Holly L. Foley, Kevin W. Vianna, and Fern Brunger. “Folie Du Système? Preventing Violence Against Nurses in In-Patient Psychiatry.” Psychiatric Quarterly 90, no. 2 (June 2019): 413–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09636-1.
Song, Chunyan, Gaili Wang, and Hongyan Wu. “Frequency and Barriers of Reporting Workplace Violence in Nurses: An Online Survey in China.” International Journal of Nursing Sciences 8, no. 1 (January 2021): 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2020.11.006.
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