Three-quarters of nurses providing private and public care
experienced workplace violence, but only one in six incidents were
formally reported, according to study published in the February
issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
The majority (92%) said they had been verbally abused, 69% had
been physically threatened and 52% had been physically assaulted. A
total of 2,354 incidents were reported to the research team, with
nurses facing an average of two to 46 incidents a year.
"Many of the nurses who took part in the research said that they
did not report incidents because they felt that workplace violence
was just part of the job" says lead author Dr Rose Chapman, from
Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia.
The 113 nurses who took part in the study were mainly female, in
their early 40s and had been in the profession for between six
months and 40 years, with an average service of just under 18
years. Nearly two-thirds worked part-time.
The number and nature of incidents varied depending on what
department the nurses worked in:
"The nurses in our study were reluctant to report episodes of
workplace violence unless they considered the event to be serious"
says Dr Chapman. "This finding was supported by a retrospective
audit of the hospital's formal incident reports, which showed that
96% of the reporting nurses had received one or more injuries as
the result of a violent incident in the workplace.
"Understanding why nurses do or do not report incidents is very
important as it can help educators and administrators to develop
programmes that help to reduce workplace violence. Further research
on how individuals adapt to violence in the workplace is also
warranted."
"Workplace violence is never acceptable and it is a very sad
indictment of society today that so many of the nurses in this
study saw these incidents as part of their job" says journal Editor
Roger Watson from the University of Sheffield, UK.
"Many of the studies published by the nursing media have focused
on public facilities, but this study shows that violence is also an
issue when patients are receiving private health care.
"It is vital that workplace violence is tackled to ensure that
healthcare systems are able to retain good quality, trained staff.
Any studies that provide an insight into how staff cope with
violence, and what influences their decision to report incidents,
are to be welcomed."
SOURCE