Workplace Violence Against Health Care Providers In Alexandria University Hospitals, Egypt.

Background: Workplace violence (WPV) is a major public health problem worldwide. Although workers in different occupations are at risk of exposure to WPV, health care workers and particularly those working in emergency departments are at increasing risk. Limited research, together with under-estimated magnitude due to underreporting of incidents and the substantial consequences on healthcare delivery, organizations and society in general create an urgent need to target WPV by research. Objectives: to determine prevalence, types, perpetrators, consequences and reporting pattern of WPV among physicians and nurses in emergency care units in Alexandria University Hospitals. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs to assess WPV in the studied settings. 113 nurses and 81 doctors were interviewed over a three-month period using an adapted form of Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Survey Interviewing Questionnaire.
Results: prevalence of WPV was 91.7% with psychological abuse being the most common form followed by physical aggression and sexual harassment (87.6%, 49.5% and 12.4% respectively). Patients' relatives were the most common perpetrators of WPV followed by patients themselves. Moreover, most of victims showed symptoms of Post-incident distress such as recalling memories of the incident, avoiding to talk about it and being super-alert. Most of incidents were underreported with physical incidents showing the highest reporting rate (32.3%) compared to incidents of psychological abuse (16.2%), while incidents of sexual harassment were never reported. The most common incriminated factors were ineffective security measures, work overload and overcrowding, improper patient attitudes and shortage of staff and resources. Conclusions: WPV is a serious problem in the studied settings and this makes them in urgent need for effective interventions. Reducing incidents of WPV requires integration between multiple sectors rather than relying on a single intervention. The most common recommended measures were application of effective security measures, increasing number of staff and usage of standard protocols and policies against WPV.