Hospital violence: site, severity, and nurses' preventive training

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Nursing Practice
• Criminology

Background:

• Workplace violence is a significant risk for healthcare professionals.
• Understanding the prevalence and characteristics of violence against nurses is essential for developing effective safety protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence and nature of workplace violence experienced by nurses.
• To explore the relationship between hospital type, survey response rates, and reported violence.
• To assess the impact of training on mitigating serious assaults.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 663 nurses regarding their exposure to workplace violence.
• Data were analyzed to compare violence rates and characteristics across different hospital types (public vs. private, general vs. psychiatric).
• Statistical relationships between training levels and assault severity were examined.

Main Results:

• 37% of nurses reported experiencing workplace violence.
• Hospitals with lower survey response rates reported less overall assault but described more deadly incidents.
• Nurses in public hospitals received more violence-prevention training than those in private hospitals.
• Increased training was associated with a negative correlation to serious assault severity.
• Public psychiatric hospitals had the highest frequency of violent acts but the lowest rate of deadly violence.

Conclusions:

• Workplace violence is prevalent among nurses, with varying characteristics depending on the healthcare setting.
• Training in violence prevention appears to be a critical factor in reducing the severity of assaults.
• There is a need to implement comprehensive training programs for all healthcare staff, in both general and psychiatric hospitals, to address the multifaceted issue of workplace violence.