Learning Objective #1: Increase knowledge level regarding verbal and physical violent experiences nurses are encountering in the workplace in a major trauma center.

Learning Objective #2: Identify practice and educational changes that may increase the safety of the workplace for both the patients and healthcare professionals.

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Violence and assault rates have become a major public health concern; drawing national attention .It is an epidemic that constitutes one of the most dangerous occupational hazards facing nursing. An estimated 2 million acts of nonfatal work related violence occur annually in the United States workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that violence in the healthcare setting represents thirty-eight percent of all workplace violence. Forty eight percent of nonfatal injuries occurred primarily to nurses. Nurses are three times more likely to experience violence than any other healthcare professional. Workplace violence is also an international health concern, as documented in international studies in Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The purpose of this research is to examine nurses’ perception of violence experiences in the workplace, and to determine what meanings they attached to experiences.

A retrospective descriptive study design was used to examine nurses’ perceptions of the experiences they had related to workplace violence in a 550-bed major trauma center, Western New York area. Convenience sampling was used to select nurses, to complete a structured questionnaire.

Data was summarized using descriptive statistics: frequency distributions and crosstabulations.   Pearson’s product moment correlations and T- Test were used to examine the relationships between variables. Chi-Square was used to determine the significance of results.      Preliminary results showed   that more nurses were exposed to verbal violence (85%) than physical violence (40%). Overall nurses did a better job identifying events as physical than verbal violence. Primary sources of verbal violence were: patients, visitors, physicians, peers, and supervisors. The primary source of physical violence was patients. Violent experiences were often not reported or underreported the primary reason given was the acceptance as a part of the job.

This information can assist to identify practice changes, which can enhance a safer environment for patients and healthcare professionals.