Frequency and consequences of violence in community pharmacies in Ireland

Violence in community pharmacies in Ireland is thought to be common but underreported. The frequency and consequences of violence has not been studied previously.

To establish the frequency and nature of violence in community pharmacies over 12 months, and to investigate the impact of violence on employees and possible consequence for the industry.

A two-part survey was distributed to community pharmacies in Ireland in 2011 (n = 200). The first part related to pharmacy demographics, the frequency of various violent events (verbal abuse, threats etc.), the respondents' worry regarding violence and its impact on their co-workers. The second part concerned individual employees' subjective response to a violent event, using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).

Fifty-seven per cent of the pharmacies responded, with 77% reporting some violent event (verbal or physical), over the past year. Eighteen per cent reported physical assault, and 63% were worried about workplace violence. There was no association between late night opening hours or pharmacy size and violence frequency. Positive statistically significant correlations were present between all types of violence and absenteeism and employee fear levels. An IES-R score could be calculated for 75 respondents; the median IES-R score was 8 with 19% reporting clinically significant scores.

Violence is common in Irish community pharmacies and impacts on employees and the industry.