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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1418813
This article is part of the Research Topic Voices from the Frontline: The Lived Experiences of Healthcare Professionals in the Workplace View all 7 articles

Prevalence, Consequences, and Contributing Factors Beyond Verbal and Physical Workplace Violence against Nurses in Peripheral Hospitals

Provisionally accepted
Mohammad Alnaeem Mohammad Alnaeem 1*Khaled Hasan Khaled Hasan 1Majdi Alzoubi Majdi Alzoubi 1Yasmeen Abu Sumaqa Yasmeen Abu Sumaqa 2Khalid AL-Mugheed Khalid AL-Mugheed 3Amany Saeed Alabdullah Amany Saeed Alabdullah 4Sally Mohammed Farghaly Sally Mohammed Farghaly 5
  • 1 Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
  • 2 Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan
  • 3 Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Department of Maternity and Pediatric Nursing, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Globally, nearly one-third of workplace violence (WPV) occurs in the health sector.Exposure to WPV among Jordanian nurses has been widely speculated to be underreported.Understanding of the factors contributing to WPV among nurses and their consequences is limited.Objectives: This study aimed to examine the consequences and contributing factors of WPV and explore suggestions for reducing WPV among nurses working in peripheral hospitals. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study included 431 Jordanian nurses. Data were collected using a self-report instrument between December 2022 and June 2023. A modified version of the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Case Study Questionnaire developed and validated in 2003 was used.Results: The ages of the participants ranged from 20 to 49 years. A total of 349 nurses (81%) had experienced verbal violence, while 110 (25.5%) had experienced physical violence. Of the 110 nurses who were physically attacked, 44 (40 %) reported that an investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the incident. Approximately 38.2% of incidents involving physical violence in the last 12 months involved the use of weapons. The current study revealed that 59.6% of the nurses reported that verbal incidents were common in their workplace. The highest level of agreement among all participants was leniency in applying penalties to perpetrators of violence inside hospitals. The majority of participants (95.8%) agreed that improving staff-patient communication skills would effectively reduce violence.Conclusion: Creating awareness among healthcare professionals, patients, and the general public regarding the impact of WPV and the importance of respect and professionalism is crucial.

    Keywords: Workplace, Violence, Nurses, incident, Emergency room

    Received: 17 Apr 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alnaeem, Hasan, Alzoubi, Sumaqa, AL-Mugheed, Saeed Alabdullah and Farghaly. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mohammad Alnaeem, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

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