Understanding aggression displayed by patients and families towards intensive care staff: A systematic review

The objective of this systematic review was to synthesise literature pertaining to patient and family violence (PFV) directed at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff.

Study design was a systematic review. The data was not amenable to meta-analysis.

Electronic searches of databases were conducted to identify studies between 1 January 2000 and 6 March 2023, limited to literature in English only. Published empirical peer-reviewed literature of any design (qualitative or quantitative) were included. Studies which only described workplace violence outside of ICU, systematic reviews, commentaries, editorials, letters, non-English literature and grey literature were excluded. All studies were appraised for quality and risk of bias using validated tools.

Eighteen studies were identified: 13 quantitative; 2 qualitative and 3 mixed methodology. Themes included: (i) what is abuse and what do I do about it? (ii) who is at risk? (iii) it is common, but how common? (iv) workplace factors; (v) impact on patient care; (vi) effect on staff; (vii)the importance of the institutional response; and (viii) current or suggested solutions.

This systematic review demonstrated that PFV in the ICU is neither well-understood nor well-managed due to multiple factors including non-standardised definition of abuse, normalisation, inadequate organisational support and general lack of education of staff and public. This will guide in future research and policy decision making.