The experiences and impact of workplace violence on doctors and nurses working in Emergency Departments in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Objectives: Workplace violence (WPV) remains grossly under-reported preventing a true appreciation of the problem. With South Africa currently rated in the top three in the world for crime, it is likely that such crime correlates with WPV experienced by health care workers. This study investigates the range of WPV experienced in the Emergency Department (ED), the demographics of the perpetrator, the impact of WPV on ED staff, and reporting behaviour. Study design: prospective, quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study of five public hospitals in Gauteng. Methods: During the period October 2020-March 2021 data was collected through the completion of a self-administered questionnaire. Nursing staff and doctors, with the exclusion of those in training, were enrolled. The questionnaire included questions on demographics, experience of physical and non-physical WPV over the last 12 months as well as responses and effects of those events. Results: There were 211 respondents. Seventy percent of respondents had experienced at least one physical WPV event and 84% had experienced at least one non-physical WPV event. In both types of violence most did not require treatment. The incidents, mainly perpetrated by patients or their relatives/visitors, left 42% of victims very worried about violence in their workplace and some with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder however reporting of events was severely lacking. Respondents indicated that there were no clear reporting procedures available to them. Conclusions: Workplace violence is a problem in the ED and more needs to be done in encouraging reporting of incidents but most importantly methods of preventing violence need to be prioritized.