Violence at the workplace--a questionnaire survey of nurses.
BACKGROUND
In the health sector, anywhere in the world nurses are one of the most exposed groups to violence. However, it is not obvious that psychiatric nurses (PNs) are more exposed to aggression and burnout.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the nature and effects of aggressive acts towards nursing staff in psychiatric and other medical services in Poland.


METHODS
Various questionnaires (Stress at Work Scale, General Health Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Work Satisfaction Scale), were distributed among psychiatric (N=78) and non-psychiatric nurses (N-PNs) (N=335). A 92.6% response rate was achieved.


RESULTS
Significant differences were found between PNs and non-psychiatric counterparts with respect to their experiences of violence. The most frequently reported incident was verbal abuse, followed by threats and physical assault. Patients were significantly more frequent perpetrators in psychiatric wards than in others. The level of intra-staff aggression did not significantly vary between groups, neither did the level of work satisfaction and absenteeism.


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of violent acts and stress related to them point out the strong need for the development of preventive programs to address the issue of violence at work.
Merecz
Dorota
D
Department of Work Psychology, The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland.
Rymaszewska
Joanna
J
Mościcka
Agnieszka
A
Kiejna
Andrzej
A
Jarosz-Nowak
Joanna
J
D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011044:Poland; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*