title: Workplace aggression, psychological distress, and job satisfaction among Palestinian nurses: A cross-sectional study.
abstract: Nurses can be exposed to aggressive behavior from patients, patient's relatives, colleagues and visitors.
  
  
  
  To determine the prevalence of workplace aggression among Palestinian nurses in the Hebron district and to examine cross-sectional associations between exposure to workplace aggression and the occurrence of psychological distress and job satisfaction.
  
  
  
  Of 372 nurses eligible for the study, 343 were included (response rate of 92.2%). The sample comprised 62% females and 38% males. The participants responded to questions about their socio-demographic status, workplace aggression (WHO questionnaires), psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-30), and job satisfaction (Generic Job Satisfaction Scale).
  
  
  
  Ninety-three (27.1%) of the respondents reported exposure to workplace aggression of any kind. Seventeen (5%) reported exposure to physical aggression, 83 (24.2%) reported exposure to verbal aggression, and 25 (7.3%) reported exposure to bullying. The patients and the patients' relatives were the main sources of physical and verbal aggression, whereas colleagues were the main source of bullying. Males reported a higher prevalence of bullying than females. Younger nurses reported a higher prevalence of exposure to physical aggression, verbal aggression and bullying. Verbal aggression was associated with more psychological distress. Bullying was associated with lower job satisfaction.
  
  
  
  More than a quarter of the nurses reported that they had been subject to some sort of aggression at the workplace. Verbal aggression was associated with higher psychological distress. Workplace bullying was associated with lower job satisfaction. Increased awareness and preventive measures to address this problem among health care workers are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway 0033; Section for Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Norway 1130. Electronic address: jaradat.you@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jaradat
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway 0033. Electronic address: morten.nielsen@stami.no.
authors.forename: Morten Birkeland
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway 0033. Electronic address: Kristensen@stami.no.
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kristensen
authors.affiliation: Occupational Epidemiology and Biological Research Lab, Department of Biology, Hebron University, Occupied Palestinian Territory 67352. Electronic address: knijem@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Khaldoun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nijem
authors.affiliation: Section for Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Norway 1130. Electronic address: espen.bjertness@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Espen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bjertness
authors.affiliation: Section for Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Norway 1130. Electronic address: hein.stigum@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stigum
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway 0033. Electronic address: rita.bast@stami.no.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bast-Pettersen
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D018912:Arabs; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace
keywords: Bullying/Mobbing; General health questionnaire-30 items (GHQ-30); Generic job satisfaction scale; Palestinian nurses; Physical aggression; Verbal aggression