Understanding Workplace Violence in ED: The Maternity Nurses' Experience Using Descriptive Phenomenology

Workplace violence (WPV) in clinical settings is a global issue in healthcare. Recent studies have shown that attitudes toward WPV are evolving. According to the World Health Organization, WPV affects between 8% and 38% of healthcare workers, especially in culturally diverse nations like the Middle East. The emergency department (ED), as one of the busiest and most critical hospital units, has been reported as the most common focal point for WPV. Thus, this study describes the WPV experiences of maternity nurses and emphasizes the importance of understanding this phenomenon to inform effective interventions.

The study followed a descriptive phenomenology approach. Fifteen ED nurses were selected and interviewed with a semistructured interview guide and an audio recorder. Participants were recruited via telephone invitations based on confirmed WPV reports. One-on-one interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Audio recordings were transcribed, and data were analyzed using Colaizzi's thematic analysis method, ensuring trustworthiness and rigor in accordance with Lincoln and Guba's criteria.

Data analysis identified 10 subthemes and 5 emerging themes describing maternity nurses' WPV experience in a tertiary care setting. Themes include demanding emergency care through verbal aggressiveness; sociocultural differences influencing nurse-patient interaction and emergency nursing care; misaligned expectations and policy awareness; nurses' adaptation and competing care demands; and managing WPV with manpower resources and collaboration.

The study reveals that WPV has multiple drivers: system-based, situation-grounded, and contextual. This evidence, along with the body of current literature, supports the plea to have a zero-tolerance policy for WPV, especially in maternity settings where the safety of the woman and her child is the utmost priority.