Nurses’ Perception Toward Workplace Violence at Dammam Medical Tower, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Context: Male and female nurses face violence in their workplace because of daily exposure to challenging situations as a result of dealing with different types of patients, visitors, and their families.
Aim: The study aimed to assess nurses' perceptions toward workplace violence at Dammam Medical Tower, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample size consisted of 300 nurses working at Dammam Medical Tower using a convenient sampling technique from January to March 2019 and using a modified tool obtained from ‘Survey on Workplace Violence’ by Massachusetts Nurse’s Association.

Results: The most common workplace violence for the last two years was verbal abuse and threatening. Additionally, sexual assault was less violent in the workplace. Around one-third of nurses reported all incidents to management, and less than half of them stated that the management was supportive and tried to find a solution. However, only 10% of them underwent related training regarding workplace violence prevention. Also, more than a quarter of nurses reported that a clear policy and procedures addressing violence are needed to combat violence in the workplace. There is a significant difference between nurses who work in outpatients or emergency departments and total violence incidents.

Conclusion: Verbal abuse and threatening are deemed to be the most common violence being occurred in the workplace, while patients and relatives are the commonest offenders. The administration of the workplace should develop a clear policy to address the violent act in work and enhance the violence concept in the orientation courses.