Workplace Violence Against Iranian Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nurses are exposed to workplace violence more than other healthcare professionals. This study aims to examine the prevalence of different types of workplace violence against Iranian nurses. A systematic review and meta-analysis were designed according to the PRISMA statement. To avoid bias, all stages of the research were done independently by two researchers. Eligible studies were retrieved from comprehensive search of several electronic databases included Magiran, Barakat Knowledge Network System, IranDoc, Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICST), Scientific Information Database (SID), Iranian National Library, PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Science Direct, ISI Web of Knowledge, CINAHL, and Google Scholar until April 2017. A random effects model was applied to combine studies. Data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software version 2. In 26 studies, 10,858 nurses entered the meta-analysis process. The mean age and work experience of the nurses were 33.5 ± 7.5 and 10.85 ± 10.1 years, respectively. The prevalence of workplace verbal, physical, sexist, and racist violence and threat against Iranian nurses was 80.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] [74.2, 86.0]), 24.8% (95% CI [17.4, 34.0]), 6.7% (95% CI [4.9, 9.2]), 14.6% (95% CI [10.1, 20.7]), and 44% (95% CI [30.1, 58.8]), respectively. The prevalence of verbal and physical violence against the emergency department nurses was 89.7% (95% CI [69.4, 97.1]) and 21.0% (95% CI [12.6, 32.9]), respectively. The highest prevalence of verbal, physical, sexist, and racist violence was from patient's relative (42.3%, 95% CI [30.7, 54.7]), patients (12.6%, 95% CI [5.9, 25.0]), healthcare workers (5.1%, 95% CI [2.4, 10.4]), and patients (2.3%, 95% CI [0.9, 5.4]), respectively. Given the high prevalence of violence against the nurses in Iran, it is highly necessary to take certain intervention measures and design new policies.