Paper
Saturday, 22 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Initiatives in the Acute Care Setting
Violence in Healthcare: Impact on the Nursing Community
Dianne Ditmer, PhD, RN, DABFN, SANE-A, Nursing Education/Professional Development, Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, OH, USA and Jennifer Malek, MSN, CS, APRN, BC, Behavioral Health Services, Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, OH, USA.
Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to analyze the nurses' psychological and physiological responses to violence in the healthcare setting.
Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to recognize the elements of workplace violence as defined by regulatory agencies, including the American Nurses Association.
Nurses, who are both victims and perpetrators of violence, frequently do not recognize the acute and chronic impact of workplace violence on personal health and professional satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to identify the types and consequences of violent behaviors reported by nurses within a community based, healthcare network. This study is unique as it examines and correlates nurse’s exposure to a full continuum of workplace violence in relationship their physical and emotional response. The hypotheses for this study are: Acute and chronic exposure to workplace violence leads to a decrease in nursing satisfaction and retention. Disruptive behavior in the clinical setting contributes to physical and psychological illness including emotional distress.  The research design for this study includes a confidential, self-report questionnaire based upon literature review of related topics including workplace violence, violence against nurses, nursing culture, medical hierarchy, stress, and nurse retention. Nursing staff were asked to identify types of violent behaviors experienced, frequency, source, and the physical and emotional response to each violent episode. Demographic data including gender, ethnicity, years working in nursing, and educational level attained are correlated with the frequency and types of violence reported in the questionnaires. Research findings support the hypotheses as 88.9% of the respondents report experiencing workplace violence, 52.2% thought about quitting, 15.1% experienced physical illness, and 85.2% experienced emotional distress. Based upon these findings, a violence prevention program was developed for the host hospital with implications for the discipline of nursing and the healthcare community.

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)