Workplace violence against nurses and related factors in Neyshabur University of Medical Science’s hospitals

Authors
Behnoosh Irvani 1
Mohammad Bidkhori 2
Zahra Alizadeh 1
Ali Movahedi 3
1 Students Research Committee, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran
2 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Anesthesia Nursing, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran
Abstract
Introduction

Workplace violence leads to psychological and physical problems and reduces the satisfaction and performance of nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence rate and source of workplace violence against nurses.

Methods & Materials

A cross-sectional study was conducted using 181 nurses at Neyshabur University of Medical Science’s teaching hospitals in Neyshabur, Iran, from April 2016 to June 2018. Participants were selected through stratified random sampling. Workplace violence in the health sector questionnaire was used for data collection. SPSS Statistics for Windows version 19 was used for data analysis.

Results

The majority of participants (67.2%) were female and the mean age of the nurses was 28.8 years ± 5.3 SD. The incidence rate of physical, verbal, and sexual violence was 25.7%, 72.6%, and 1.2%, respectively. More than 66% of the nurses suggested that there is no procedures for reporting of violence in their workplace. Shortage of personnel and facilities and crowded wards was descript as most important causes of physical and non-physical violence against nurses. Statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between wards and verbal violence, sex and physical violence, and number of shifts per week and physical and verbal violence.

Conclusion

The verbal violence against nurses is very common and occurs more often by patients and their relatives and physicians. Hospital managers pay very little attention to this problem. Nurses usually do not report workplace violence against themselves and workplace violence against nurses is becoming a typical phenomenon in hospitals.
Keywords
workplace violence
physical abuse
domestic violence
sex offenses
Nurses
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