Workplace Violence Against Nurses: Challenges and Solutions for Europe

Why do nurses leave their jobs? Understanding person-related hostility in the healthcare sector of Pakistan

Nursing is considered indigent and oppressed because of uneven organizational hierarchies and unsatisfactory work environments. This study aimed to highlight the critical aspects of organizational culture in the nursing profession and, in general, those propagating hostile behaviours among female nursing staff that result in dissatisfaction and intention to leave the organization. A quantitative research approach was applied and a survey research strategy was used to collect the data. Convenience sampling was applied and data were collected from female nurses who were easily accessible and willing to participate in the research. A total of 707 questionnaires were collected from 14 hospitals and the data was analyzed using SmartPLS 4. Lack of administrative support and gender discrimination positively affected person-related hostility. In contrast, person-related hostility mediated the relationship between gender discrimination and lack of administrative support with the intention to leave. Direct or indirect person-related hostility factors can severely damage organizational reputation and quality and may cause the loss of employees with specific organizational knowledge and exposure. Losing an experienced employee to a newer one cannot replace the costs incurred on hiring, training, and providing knowledge to older employees. HR managers in organizations should devise strategies and policies that allow for the timely resolution of issues of nursing staff based on fair work performance.

Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions of Abuse and Its Impact on Healthy Work Environments in Five European Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective

Workplace violence is a prevalent phenomenon in hospital settings which critical care nurses are particularly exposed to. The aim of this study was to research abuse against Critical Care Nurses in five European countries, and its association with and impact on Healthy Work Environments.

Methods

This was a multinational cross-sectional study. The 1,183 participants were nurses working in intensive care units from five European countries: Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Spain, and Romania. The participants were selected by the convenience sampling method from 1 January 2021 to April 2022.

Results

Of 1,033 critical care nurses who answered questions about abuse, 646 reported at least one incident in the previous year. The highest number of incidents came from patients (2,050), followed by another nurse (1,453) and physicians (1,039).

Conclusion

Although nurses in ICUs are aware that a healthy working environment benefits them in their daily work, most of them still face some form of abuse. Organizations must take a realistic approach to prevent abuse and to educate nurses and nurse managers by implementing standards for healthy work environments.

Workplace Violence Experienced by Personal Care Workers in a District in Seoul, Republic of Korea: A Comparison Study with Office and Service Workers

This study compared the level of workplace violence experienced by personal healthcare workers in a district in Seoul, Republic of Korea, with those experienced by workers in office or service jobs. We matched 150 personal care workers with 150 office workers and 150 service workers using a propensity score. Workplace violence was categorized into psychological violence and physical violence. Of the surveyed personal care workers, 53.3% reported experiencing psychological violence, and 42.0% reported experiencing physical violence. After adjusting for self-reported work-related symptoms, personal care workers had significantly higher odds of experiencing psychological violence than office workers (OR = 5.01; 95% CI: 2.80-8.97) or service workers (OR = 7.54; 95% CI: 3.93-14.47). The adjusted odds for physical violence were also significantly higher for personal care workers compared with those for office workers (OR = 5.83; 95% CI: 2.96-11.50) and service workers (OR = 6.00; 95% CI: 2.88-12.49). In terms of specific types of workplace violence, personal care workers were 7-10 times more likely to experience unwanted sexual attention, sexual harassment, and physical violence than office or service workers. We found that personal care workers were more prone to workplace violence than office or service workers, with gender-based or physical violence being the most common types. Considering the negative impact of workplace violence on workers' well-being and health services, policy updates and interventions focusing on personal care workers are needed to reduce workplace violence, safeguard workers' rights, and establish a secure working environment.

Prevalence of workplace violence in Chinese obstetric nurses under the new situation and its correlation with violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence severely impacts individual nurses. With the three-child opening policy of China and the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in the recently years, obstetric nurses face the double attack of heavy workload and staffing shortage. This study aimed to evaluate the current situation of workplace violence among Chinese obstetric nurses under the new situation, assess the level of violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception in Chinese obstetric nurses and explore the correlation between workplace violence and the level of violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey on the workplace violence for Chinese obstetric nurses was conducted from August to February 2023. All the questionnaires came from 10 provinces and 3 autonomous regions in China. The basic characteristics of obstetric nurse's workplace violence, workplace violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice scale and workplace violence climate perception scale were collected.

RESULTS

Totally, 522 Chinese obstetric nurses were included. 55.0% of obstetric nurses (287) had experienced workplace violence in the past 12 months, including verbal assault (40.4%), physical assault (34.1%), and sexual assault (31.0%). The overall level of obstetric nurses' workplace violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception of workplace violence was low. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the violence prevention knowledge dimension significantly influenced obstetric nurses' workplace violence (B = -0.278, P < .001), attitude dimension (B = -0.241, P < .001), behavior dimension (B = -0.216, P < .001) and the violence climate perception's organizational management (B = -0.177, P < .001), organizational training (B = -0.175, P < .001), organizational support (B = -0.143, p < .001) and the violence handling (B = -0.165, P < .001).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of workplace violence among obstetric nurses in the new situation is high. However, the overall violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception levels are low. Therefore, nursing managers should take targeted measures according to the relevant influencing factors and the characteristics of obstetrics to improve the level of obstetric nurses' violence prevention knowledge-attitude-practice and climate perception to reduce workplace violence among obstetric nurses.

Aggression against Nursing Personnel during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: An Internet-Based Survey

(1) Background: health care workers, particularly nurses, have been regularly assaulted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Purpose: to evaluate the prevalence and location of assaults against nursing personnel in Latin America, and to determine predictor factors for aggression against nurses. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was answered by 374 nurses working in health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aggression against nurses was estimated using the Victimization Scale. (3) Results: A total of 288 nurses were included in this study. The victimization scale showed that 52.1% of nurses have suffered aggression by the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Males were more likely to be attacked than females (p < 0.05). Additionally, males were attacked more frequently on public transport (x2 = 6.72, p = 0.01). The home neighborhood and markets were other locations with a higher risk of being assaulted (OR: 3.39, CI: 1.53-7.50). (4) Conclusions: Our results indicate that nurses in Latin America who work during the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation have been frequently assaulted by the general public. Males are more frequently attacked than females and the main places of aggression are public transportation, their home neighborhood and supermarkets. Implications for nursing practice: it is necessary to create and implement protocols and guidelines to support nursing personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was retrospectively registered at the Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco (103/CIPDACS/2020) on the (08/2020).