Search

Using a cross-sectional survey design from 11 public tertiary hospitals (a specialist hospital, four Chinese medicine hospitals, and six general hospitals) in the urban areas of Heilongjiang, we determined the nature of workplace violence that medical staff have encountered in Chinese hospitals and identified factors associated with those experiences of violence. A total of 1129 health workers participated. The specialist hospital had the highest prevalence of physical violence (35.4%), while the general hospitals had the highest prevalence of non-physical violence (76%). Inexperienced medical staff (p &lt, 0.001) were more likely to suffer non-physical violence than physical violence in Chinese medicine hospitals compared to experienced staff. Medical units (p = 0.001) had a high risk of non-physical violence, while surgical units (p = 0.005) had a high risk of physical violence. In general hospitals, staff with higher levels of anxiety about workplace violence were more vulnerable to both physical violence (1.67, 95% CI 1.36–2.10) and non-physical violence (1.309, 95% CI 1.136–1.508) compared to those with lower levels of anxiety, while rotating shift workers had a higher odds of physical violence (2.2, 95% CI 1.21–4.17) and non-physical violence (1.65, 95% CI 1.13–2.41) compared to fixed day shift workers. Thus, prevention should focus not only on high-risk sections of hospitals, but also on the nature of the hospital itself.

A cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals from 19 hospitals in six cities of Heilongjiang Province, China was conducted. This study had two objectives: (1) to examine the factors influencing healthcare workers’ opinions of strategies to prevent workplace violence, using social support theory, and (2) to encourage healthcare organisations and the larger society to offer greater support to healthcare workers. The respondents exposed to workplace violence expected to receive organisational and social support. Those exposed to psychological violence had a strong opinion of the need for target training to strengthen their competence in responding to violence (OR = 1.319, 95% CI: 1.034–1.658) and enacting workplace violence legislation (OR = 1.968, 95% CI: 1.523–2.543).Those exposed to physical violence thought it might be useful to reinforce staff with back-up support (OR = 3.101, 95% CI: 1.085–8.860). Those exposed to both types of violence and those with high anxiety levels need greater support at both the organisational and societal levels.

This research aimed to determine the prevalence of workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers, explore the frequency distribution of violence in different occupational groups, and determine which healthcare occupation suffers from WPV most frequently. Furthermore, the current study aimed to compare risk factors affecting different types of WPV in Chinese hospitals. A cross-sectional design was utilized. A total of 1899 healthcare workers from Heilongjiang, a province in Northeastern China, completed the questionnaire. Of the respondents, 83.3% reported exposure to workplace violence, and 68.9% reported non-physical violence. Gender, education, shift work, anxiety level, and occupation were significantly correlated with physical violence (p < 0.05 for all correlations). Additionally, age, professional title, and occupation were correlated with non-physical violence, which critically affected doctors. Thus, gender, age, profession, anxiety, and shift work were predictive of workplace violence toward healthcare workers. Doctors appeared to experience non-physical workplace violence with particularly higher frequency when compared to nurses and other workers in hospitals. For healthcare workers, interventions aimed at WPV reduction should be enacted according to the types of violence, profession, and other factors underlying the various types of WPV in hospitals.

Workplace violence in Chinese township hospitals is a major public health problem. We identified the risk factors of healthcare workers' worry about experiencing workplace violence in 90 Chinese township hospitals and determined specific measures for differing stages of violence (based on crisis management theory). Participants were 440 general practitioners and 398 general nurses from Heilongjiang Province, China (response rate 84.6%). One hundred and six (12.6%) respondents reported being physically attacked in their workplace in the previous 12 months. Regarding psychological violence, the most common type reported was verbal abuse (46.0%). While most (85.2%) respondents had some degree of worry about suffering violence, 22.1% were worried or very worried. Ordinal regression analysis revealed that being ≤35 years of age, having a lower educational level, having less work experience, and working night shifts were all associated with worry about workplace violence. Furthermore, those without experience of such violence were more likely to worry about it. Respondents' suggested measures for controlling violence included "widening channels on medical dispute solutions," "improving doctor-patient communication," and "advocating for respect for medical workers via the media." Results suggest the target factors for reducing healthcare workers' worry by according to the type of education and training and possible measures for limiting workplace violence in township hospitals.