Elom Peter, Agu Adaoha, Unah Alfred, Azuogu Benedict, Ituma Bernard, Okah Onyinyechi, Okocha Yusuf, Ugwunweze Jacintha, Ossai Edmund, Igwe Dorothy
Department of Community Medicine, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.
African Institute for Health Policy and Health Systems, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.
Niger Med J. 2024 May 23;65(2):173-184. doi: 10.60787/nmj-v65i2-336. eCollection 2024 Mar-Apr.
Healthcare workers globally are at an increased risk of workplace violence. Adverse effects such as physical injury, reduced quality of care to patients and lower productivity with associated costs to employers occur. Non-reporting hinders the implementation of effective prevention. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, reasons for non-reporting of workplace violence, and knowledge of prevention prior to designing intervention strategies in the study location where there is a paucity of research on this issue.
This cross-sectional study was conducted at a Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, for 4 weeks in 2020 among 205 employees. The hospital was stratified into Clinical, Nursing Services, Pharmacy, Laboratory, and administrative divisions; proportionate allocation and random sampling were used to select the allocated samples. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics determined the measures of central tendencies and dispersion, while bivariate analysis of the variables was done using Pearson's Chi-Square test. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05 with a confidence level of 95%.
The mean age of the participants was 39.1 ± 7.8 years. The prevalence of workplace violence was 70%. The most common reason for non-reporting was complexities and time-consuming reporting procedures (26.5%) followed by fear of reprisal on career (22.4%). The proportion of respondents with good knowledge of workplace violence prevention strategies was high (69.8%). Gender (p = 0.03), work setting (p = 0.006), previous workplace violence training (p = 0.005) and knowledge of workplace violence preventive strategies (p = 0.04) had statistically significant associations with experience of workplace violence.
The high prevalence of workplace violence suggests a need for a workplace violence prevention program which should include a simple process of reporting and training. The improved awareness from previous training may account for the significant association with workplace violence.
全球医护人员面临的工作场所暴力风险有所增加。会产生诸如身体伤害、患者护理质量下降以及生产力降低等不良影响，并给雇主带来相关成本。不报告阻碍了有效预防措施的实施。本研究旨在评估工作场所暴力的发生率、不报告的原因以及在对此问题研究匮乏的研究地点设计干预策略之前对预防知识的了解情况。
这项横断面研究于2020年在埃邦伊州阿巴卡利基的一家教学医院进行，为期4周，共有205名员工参与。医院分为临床、护理服务、药房、实验室和行政部门；采用按比例分配和随机抽样的方法选取分配的样本。使用结构化问卷收集数据。描述性统计确定了集中趋势和离散程度的度量，而变量的双变量分析则使用Pearson卡方检验。统计学显著性设定为p≤0.05，置信水平为95%。
参与者的平均年龄为39.1±7.8岁。工作场所暴力的发生率为70%。不报告的最常见原因是报告程序复杂且耗时（26.5%），其次是担心职业报复（22.4%）。对工作场所暴力预防策略有良好了解的受访者比例较高（69.8%）。性别（p = 0.03）、工作环境（p = 0.006）、以前接受过的工作场所暴力培训（p = 0.005）以及对工作场所暴力预防策略的了解（p = 0.04）与工作场所暴力经历有统计学上的显著关联。
工作场所暴力的高发生率表明需要一个工作场所暴力预防计划，该计划应包括简单的报告和培训流程。以前培训提高的意识可能是与工作场所暴力有显著关联的原因。
