A study showed that one in four nurses suffered ‘workplace violence’ such as physical or verbal violence or sexual harassment from a doctor in the past six months. As this affects not only nurses but also patient care, it is argued that the hospital’s response system should be strengthened.
According to the nursing community on the 5th, the research team led by Park Seung-mi, professor of nursing at Chungbuk National University (Kwak Eun-joo, professor of nursing at Hyejeon University, Lee Ye-won, nurse at the nursing headquarters at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, and Park Eun-jun, professor of nursing at Korea National Open University) conducted a study on ‘Recognition of hospital nurses’ experiences of workplace violence and response systems’. A paper on the topic was recently published in the Korean Journal of Nursing Education.
Professor Seungmi Park’s research team submitted a research plan to the nursing departments of 40 hospitals across the country from November 14 to December 22, 2022, obtained approval for data collection, and asked 1,000 nurses who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study about their experiences of workplace violence. asked about
50.3% (503 people) of the nurses who participated in the study belonged to tertiary general hospitals, 38% (380 people) were from general hospitals, and 11.7% (117 people) were from hospitals. Working departments included 42.5% in the general ward, 18% in the integrated nursing service ward, 16% in the outpatient department, 15.1% in the intensive care unit, and 8.4% in the emergency room.
71.1% (711 people) of nurses who responded to the survey responded that they had experienced workplace violence at least once, regardless of the perpetrator and type. Among them, workplace violence by patients (guardians and caregivers) was 68.9% (689 people) of all respondents, workplace violence by doctors was 29.5% (295 people), and violence by nurse colleagues was also 29.3% (293 people).
Of the total respondents (1,000 people), 24.6% (246 people) responded that they had experienced violence from doctors within the past six months. Looking at violence by type, 21.1% (211 people) of all respondents said they experienced physical violence, and 23.6% (236 people) experienced verbal violence. There were 21.4% (214 people) of nurses who experienced violence from fellow nurses within the past 6 months.
Types of physical violence that nurses experienced against doctors (multiple responses possible) include △making a grim expression (73.2%) △running around the ward angrily (69.9%) △kicking hospital objects (14.2%) △moving objects There was an attempt to throw (5.7%).
In terms of language, △coercive tone (82.1%) △informal language (76.8%) △loud voice (66.3%) △disrespectful language about the occupation (58.5%). The experience of sexual harassment by a doctor in the past 6 months was 4% (40 people), and the types of sexual harassment (possible to overlap) were △physical 2.1% (21 people) △verbal 1.6% (16 people) △visual 0.5% (5 people) ) was investigated.
The number of nurses who experienced workplace harassment from doctors was 7.4% (74 people). △6.9% (69 people) were bullied on the job, △1.7% (17 people) were bullied outside of work, and △1.3% (13 people) were bullied in groups.
Types of occupational harassment (duplicate responses possible) include △passing on one’s own work (82.4%) △excessive work instructions (71.6%) △not acknowledging work abilities and achievements (55.4%) △not giving work or making chores (32.4%) %), etc.
In particular, the nurse’s response method differed somewhat depending on who the perpetrator was. It was found that if a fellow nurse was the perpetrator, the nurse responded proactively by reporting it to a superior or directly refuting it, but if a doctor was the perpetrator, they ignored it or acted cautiously to avoid such an incident happening again.
For example, they pretended not to be a big deal when it came to physical violence by doctors (31.3%), were careful not to repeat it (26.8%), or ignored verbal violence (38.6%). On the other hand, if they were subjected to physical violence by a fellow nurse, they스포츠토토 responded by reporting it to a superior (58.4%) and directly expressing their displeasure (45.8%).
Although 69.5% (695 people) of all responding nurses were ‘aware’ of the workplace violence response system, only 16.3% (113 people) of them responded that the response system was effective. The reasons cited were ‘the problem is unlikely to be resolved’ (60.7%) and ‘the reporter’s confidentiality cannot be expected to be protected’ (51.2%).
Revelation and demands for disciplinary action are continuously being raised that professors at university hospitals have committed sexual harassment and verbal abuse against nurses and others. However, despite the public debate, there are also suspicions that the hospital is trying to quietly close the case by protecting the professor in question.
The research team said, “Nurses showed passive behavior in response to the doctor’s violence. We could see that they were skeptical about resolving the problem,” adding, “If they avoid communication to reduce the possibility of verbal violence, they are concerned that it will pose a significant risk to patient care.” did.
The research team said, “People may give up on reporting because it is difficult to protect confidentiality and expect a fair investigation. We need to consider whether to operate a response system by separately operating violence management personnel or contracting with an external professional agency to punish medical staff who commit workplace violence.” “There is a need to protect the human rights of medical victims and improve organizational culture,” he said.