The nature and pre-disposing factors of workplace violence: A qualitative study of how violence is experienced by ED personnel.

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence against emergency department (ED) personnel, especially nurses, is a growing global challenge, and it can have serious adverse impacts on the personnel's life and patient care. Investigating the experience of ED personnel can help healthcare authorities find the underlying factors causing violence and use proper strategies to prevent it.

METHODS

In this qualitative exploratory study, data were collected using in-depth, face to face and semi-structured interviews with 20 ED personnel working in five hospitals in west Azerbaijan of Iran. The interviews were transcribed and transferred to MaxQda10 software for coding. Then, six steps conventional content analysis process proposed by Graneheim and Lundman (2004) was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Two overarching categories of "perceived violence" and "predisposing factors of violence" were extracted from the data analysis. Perceived violence was supported by "verbal violence," "physical violence," "ethnic violence," and "sexual violence." The sub-categories of the "predisposing factors of violence included "inefficient management," "low professional competence of personnel," and " violent atmosphere."

CONCLUSION

Concerning the high perceived experiences of violence in the ED, health care systems should take fundamental measures such as supporting the ED personnel, improving management, developing and implementing standard guidelines for triaging patients, conducting continuous educational courses on clinical knowledge and skills, and how to interact and communicate with clients would help prevent violence.