WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST NURSES AND ITS RELATED FACTORS IN HOSPITALS OF ABADAN, IRAN

Exposure to violence in workplace is considered a risk factor that threatens employees' health. Nurses are also exposed to various types of violence due to their presence and activity in medical centers, direct contact with patients, and multiple tensions. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the frequency of violence against nurses and the factors affecting it in the personnel working in hospitals of Abadan, Iran.

This study is a descriptive cross-sectional research in which all 489 nursing staff working in Abadan hospitals during the research. In this study, the research sample was the same community selected through census sampling. The data was collected by two questionnaires: The first was a demographics questionnaire and the second was a questionnaire called “workplace violence in the health sector.” After collection of the data, it was analyzed in SPSS statistical software. In the analysis, descriptive statistics and t-test and chi-square test were used in inferential statistics.

The mean age of the participants was 30.8 ± 8.3 years, and the mean work experience was 12.77 ± 8.33. Most of the participants (77%) were women. 52% of nurses had experienced verbal violence, 15.6 racial (ethnic) violence, and 12% physical violence. Companions of the patients were caused the most physical violence (80.6%) and verbal violence (57.1%). Demographic characteristics, including age, gender, work experience, and education level, had a significant relationship with verbal and physical violence. In this study, according to the opinion of the nursing personnel and in most cases, the lack of security facilities, the absence of restrictive laws and regulations, and the lack of awareness of the people about the duties of nurses were among the factors that caused workplace violence.

The results showed that the most common types of violence against nursing personnel were verbal, and the patient's companions were the main perpetrators of violence in these cases. It seems that more appropriate control of patients and their companions, training of hospital security personnel, and increasing people's awareness of the duties of nursing personnel can reduce workplace violence.