Nurses consider workplace violence part of their job, finds Oz study

Washington, Feb 4 (ANI): A study has found that many nurses consider violence to be a part of the job.

The study showed that three-quarters of nurses who provide private and public care have experienced workplace violence, with 92 percent saying they have been verbally abused, 69 percent saying they have been physically threatened and 52 saying they had been physically assaulted.

A total of 2,354 incidents were reported to the research team, with nurses facing an average of two to 46 incidents a year.

"Many of the nurses who took part in the research said that they did not report incidents because they felt that workplace violence was just part of the job," lead author Dr Rose Chapman, from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, said.

The 113 nurses who took part in the study were mainly female, in their early 40s and had been in the profession for between six months and 40 years, with an average service of just under 18 years. Nearly two-thirds worked part-time.

The number and nature of incidents varied depending on what department the nurses worked in.

"The nurses in our study were reluctant to report episodes of workplace violence unless they considered the event to be serious," Dr Chapman said.

"This finding was supported by a retrospective audit of the hospital's formal incident reports, which showed that 96 percent of the reporting nurses had received one or more injuries as the result of a violent incident in the workplace.

"Understanding why nurses do or do not report incidents is very important as it can help educators and administrators to develop programmes that help to reduce workplace violence.

"Further research on how individuals adapt to violence in the workplace is also warranted," Chapman stated.

"Workplace violence is never acceptable and it is a very sad indictment of society today that so many of the nurses in this study saw these incidents as part of their job," journal Editor Roger Watson from the University of Sheffield, UK, said.

"Many of the studies published by the nursing media have focused on public facilities, but this study shows that violence is also an issue when patients are receiving private health care.

"It is vital that workplace violence is tackled to ensure that healthcare systems are able to retain good quality, trained staff.

"Any studies that provide an insight into how staff cope with violence, and what influences their decision to report incidents, are to be welcomed," Watson added.

The study has been published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. (ANI)