Prevalence and risk factors of workplace violence among registered nurses in tertiary hospitals

Abstract

© 2020, Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council. All rights reserved. Workplace violence in healthcare organizations is a significant global occupational health problem, and nurses are the occupational group at greatest risk. This descriptive research examined the prevalence of workplace violence and risk factors among registered nurses working at tertiary care hospitals in upper Northern Thailand. Workplace violence was defined as physical and psychological violence. Psychological violence include verbal abuse, bullying/mobbing, and sexual harassment. Data was collected from 555 purposively chosen registered nurses, and analyzed using logistic regression. The survey tool was adapted from the standardized Workplace Violence Questionnaire developed by the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI in 2003. The prevalence of physical workplace violence in the preceding 12 months was found to be 12.1%, while the prevalence of psychological violence was verbal abuse (50.3%), bullying/mobbing (10.3%), and sexual harassment (1.6%). Risk factors for verbal abuse included being a registered nurse with direct nursing care responsibilities; workplaces without adequate security; having workplace violence concerns; and less than ten years work experience. Physical violence risk factors included high patient workloads per nurse; the provision of nursing care to adolescent and adult patients; lack of workplace violence reporting procedures; being aged under 35 years; and workplaces without adequate security. The results suggest that healthcare managers should actively develop and implement safe hospital policies, systems for reporting incidents, and security measures to prevent workplace violence from patients and their relatives and bullying from co-workers. Education and training are also recommended for the management of violence and aggression from patients as well as bullying.