Within the healthcare setting, sources of violence may include coworkers, patients, visitors, and intruders. Doctors, nurses, aids, and other caregivers are sometimes hit, kicked, beat, shoved, and shouted at. These different types of violence seen can easily lead to injury, stress, and psychological trauma. What are factors that increase violence within the healthcare workplace? Stressful conditions, security, domestic dispute, understaffed, and lack of communication can increase the risk of violence within the workplace (Winn, 2018).
In an article in the Journal of Nursing and Health Studies, a descriptive research was performed using a self-administered questionnaire (Higazee & Rayan, 2017). The aim of this research was to examine the workplace violence, the negative consequences, and what measures were used to control it. It was shown that most incidents were not reported due to the
participants’ feeling that it was useless. In general, the staff were not satisfied with how the violence was handled. It was reported the consequence of violence was just a verbal warning. Even more, the report in how they decreased the violence of incidents was to increase the staff number.
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One study (Zhao et al., 2019) found that increasing one’s knowledge on how to avoid potentially dangerous situations is crucial in helping decrease or prevent violence within the healthcare workplace. It also included, workers who receive training in violence prevention were more likely to intervene when a violent event occurred compared to untrained workers.
Zhao et al., (2019) also mentions the effects on workers after a violent occurrence. Some emotional problems that may result from a violent incident may cause that individual self-doubt, depression, and even anxiety. Social support, whether from a relative or another who had a similar encounter, could prove beneficial to one who went through a violent occurrence.
Another type of violence in the healthcare workplace that many may not even think of would be horizontal violence. Horizontal violence is described as an aggressive or harmful action, or behavior, towards a co-worker by another co-worker. These actions can lead to an unsafe work environment and possibly poor patient outcomes. Longo, Cassidy, and Sherman (2016) posted an article in The Journal of Continuing Education that discusses charge nurse’s experience with horizontal violence.
In this article, a descriptive study about what horizontal violence is and how common it is was completed. Information was collected from 366 charge nurses using a source called the horizontal violence scale. The report shown charge nurses have experienced horizontal violence with some regularity.
Healthcare facilities and workers have been encouraged to address this problem that has been growing. The Joint Commission has given several suggestions in maintaining and preventing violent occurrence’s (“Sentinel Event Alert,” 2018). One is realizing how important all events of physical or verbal violence towards staff, patients, and visitors needs to be reported.
Another suggestion is that every case reported needs to be reviewed. The data is analyzed and then determined what the priority solution is and what intervention should go into play. Also included, staff should be trained in security as well as self-defense and protocols in response to emergency situations. Finally, evaluate any workplace violence reduction regularly.
