Exposure of emergency nurses to workplace violence and their coping strategies: A cross-sectional design

Abstract

Introduction: Violence against nurses working in the emer-gency department is a serious problem worldwide.Methods: This descriptive study used a participant question-naire and was conducted in-person, using semi-structured inter-views with 120 emergency nurses (69 female, 51 male) working in the emergency department between September 1 and November 30, 2017.Results: Overall, 90% of the study participants were exposed to workplace violence at least once while working in the emer-gency department, and 94.4% experienced verbal abuse, including insults, shouting, threats, and swearing. Most of such workplace violence came from the patients relatives. Most workplace violence incidents occurred during the 4 PM to midnight time slot and in the triage area. The most important perceived reasons for workplace violence were the long waiting period for treatment and care (79.6%) and not being prioritized for treatment (68.5%). The top 3 coping methods used were reporting to the nurse in charge (78.1%), followed by reaching out to the security personnel (72.8%) and filing lawsuits if exposed to physical violence (65.8%).Conclusions: Most emergency nurses had experienced work -place violence. Hospital administration should take more effec-tive security measures, hospitals should provide education and training programs for dealing with workplace violence, and pro-grams to support staff members on encountering workplace violence should be implemented.