Underreporting of Workplace Violence

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

This study examined differences between self-report and actual documentation of workplace violence (WPV) incidents in a cohort of health care workers. The study was conducted in an American hospital system with a central electronic database for reporting WPV events. In 2013, employees (n = 2010) were surveyed by mail about their experience of WPV in the previous year. Survey responses were compared with actual events entered into the electronic system. Of questionnaire respondents who self-reported a violent event in the past year, 88% had not documented an incident in the electronic system. However, more than 45% had reported violence informally, for example, to their supervisors. The researchers found that if employees were injured or lost time from work, they were more likely to formally report a violent event. Understanding the magnitude of underreporting and characteristics of health care workers who are less likely to report may assist hospitals in determining where to focus violence education and prevention efforts.

Related collections

Most cited references 18

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Violence against nurses working in US emergency departments.

Jessica Gacki-Smith, Altair Juarez, Lara Boyett … (2015)

The objective of this study was to investigate emergency nurses' experiences and perceptions of violence from patients and visitors in US emergency departments (EDs). The ED is a particularly vulnerable setting for workplace violence, and because of a lack of standardized measurement and reporting mechanisms for violence in healthcare settings, data are scarce. Registered nurse members (n = 3,465) of the Emergency Nurses Association participated in this cross-sectional study by completing a 69-item survey. Approximately 25% of respondents reported experiencing physical violence more than 20 times in the past 3 years, and almost 20% reported experiencing verbal abuse more than 200 times during the same period. Respondents who experienced frequent physical violence and/or frequent verbal abuse indicated fear of retaliation and lack of support from hospital administration and ED management as barriers to reporting workplace violence. Violence against ED nurses is highly prevalent. Precipitating factors to violent incidents identified by respondents is consistent with the research literature; however, there is considerable potential to mitigate these factors. Commitment from hospital administrators, ED managers, and hospital security is necessary to facilitate improvement and ensure a safer workplace for ED nurses.

0 comments Cited 86 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Violence against emergency department workers.

Karina L McQueen, Matthew C Ross, R. Gates (2006)

The purpose of this study was to describe the violence experienced by Emergency Department (ED) workers from patients and visitors during the 6 months before the survey. Two hundred forty-two employees at five hospitals who came in direct contact with patients or visitors completed a survey. The study found that most workers had been verbally harassed by patients or visitors at least once. There were at least 319 assaults by patients and 10 assaults by visitors. Sixty-five percent of subjects assaulted stated that they did not report the assault to hospital authorities. Sixty-four percent of subjects had not had any violence prevention training during the previous 12 months. There were significant relationships among violent experiences, feelings of safety, and job satisfaction. ED workers are at high risk for violence, and efforts are needed to decrease the incidence of violence. Such efforts are likely to have a positive impact on job satisfaction and retention of ED workers.

0 comments Cited 75 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Workplace violence in Alberta and British Columbia hospitals.

Kathryn Hesketh, Susan Duncan, Carole Estabrooks … (2003)

Workplace violence is a significant and widespread public health concern among health care workers, including nurses. With growing awareness of how practice environments influence patient outcomes and the retention of health professionals, it is timely to consider the impact of workplace violence in hospitals. Registered nurses in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada were surveyed on their experiences of violence in the workplace over the last five shifts. Our results suggest that nurses are experiencing many incidences of violence in a given work week, particularly in the emergency, psychiatric, and medical-surgical settings. Most violent acts are perpetrated by patients, but there is also a significant portion of violence and abuse committed by hospital co-workers, particularly emotional abuse and sexual harassment. Our results also indicate that the majority of workplace violence is not reported. We suggest that using the Broken Windows theory might be a useful tool to conceptualize why workplace violence occurs, and that this framework be used to begin to develop new violence prevention policies and strategies.