'Triple-A: Acquaint, analyse and act': The insights of nurse educators towards a better understanding of workplace violence in Saudi Arabia.

AIM

This study aims to investigate the experiences and insights of nurse educators in order to acquire a better understanding of the nature and various factors associated with workplace violence, which could lead to the establishment of future actions and recommendations to eliminate or reduce aggression, abuse, incivility and any other forms of violence in the health sector.

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence is one of the social phenomena that have not been fully explored in various settings such as educational institutions and health care facilities. A worker who has experienced violence could provide valuable insights that could help to better understand and sustainably protect an individual, a group or an organization from workplace violence and its unfavourable consequences.

METHODS

Qualitative description is used in this phenomenological study. A total of 18 nurse educators who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled as the study participants in a government university located in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. Purposive sampling method was used in the recruitment. In addition, a semi-structured interview guide was employed to explore the participants' experiences and insights from February to June 2021. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's methods, and a consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research checklist was utilized to report the study's results.

RESULTS

The participants' narratives generated three major themes, namely, the 'Triple-A': (1) 'acquaint', (2) 'analyse' and (3) 'act', to better understand workplace violence themes.

CONCLUSION

The 'Triple-A: Acquaint, analyse, and act' workplace violence themes can serve as a simple guide to better understand the nature and different factors associated with workplace violence: 'acquaint' illustrates self-awareness; 'analyse' pertains to the recognition to possible indications and signals; and 'act' depicts an individual's proactiveness and responsiveness to workplace violence and conceivably catalyses the decrease of this social hazard's prevalence.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Leaders and managers in the nursing field should prioritize their participation in developing creative strategies and their implementation of policies to manage and mitigate violence in the workplace, such as initiating ongoing education (acquaint), creating robust procedures for reporting and referral (analyse), establishing support networks, listening to victims' experiences and promoting respect to individual differences (act).