Verbal and physical violence against nurses in Sabzevar hospitals

Violence is considered as an issue of great concern to everyone and in every environment. Despite to the fact that violence occurs in every organization، its likelihood in health service provider organizations is higher. The present study was performed with the intention of investigating «the verbal and physical violence against nurses in hospitals in Sabzevar». The present study was a descriptive cross - sectional one and the population under study was 87 nurses from Sabzevar hospitals. The used questionnaire was a self-reporting one consisting of 26 questions in three parts such as demographic information، facing verbal and physical violence، and other questions related to the perpetrator and its report. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16) and Descriptive Statistics، ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis. The results showed that the 73. 56 per cent of nurses were verbally attacked by the patients and 28. 73 per cent of them experienced physical confrontation with the patients and their companions. There is a significant relationship between age and sex of nurses and experiencing verbal and physical violence، as well as career history and facing verbal violence (p<0. 05). Since lots of verbally attacked were suggested، more attention must be paid to this issue and the necessary steps must be taken in this regard.