Abstract
Introduction
Violence against nurses working in the emergency department is a serious problem worldwide.
Methods
This descriptive study used a participant questionnaire and was conducted in-person,
using semi-structured interviews 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 emergency 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 workplace violence. Hospital administration
should take more effective security measures, hospitals should provide education and
training programs for dealing with workplace violence, and programs to support staff
members on encountering workplace violence should be implemented.
Key words
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Biography
İsmail Öztaş, Hakkari University, Vocational School of Health Services, Hakkari, Turkey. Twitter: @OztasIsmail. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7890-8199.
Biography
Ayla Yava is a Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey. Twitter: @YavaAyla. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3468-6779.
Biography
Aynur Koyuncu is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey. Twitter: @AynurKoyuncu17. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3486-458X.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 25, 2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
