Workplace Violence among Nurses in Selected Public and Private Healthcare Facilities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Abstract

This research work investigated workplace violence among nurses in public and private healthcare facilities in Port Harcourt. The study sample comprised of 228 nurses and the method of sampling was purposive sampling. A structured questionnaire developed by the International Labour Organization was adopted for use, based on the research objectives. About 228 copies of questionnaires were administered with 99.6% (227) response rate. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.22.0 software, together with charts and tables for better representation of information. Chi-square table was used to test for level of significant at 5% (P < 0.05) confidence interval. Result showed 25.6% (58) rate of workplace violence, with verbal abuse 54.6% (124) being the most common form experienced followed by physical violence at 34.3% (78). Patients (18) and their relative (53) were the main perpetrators of physical violence, patients relatives (54) and supervisors (26) were the main perpetrators of verbal abuse, while patients (12) and other healthcare workers (1) were the main perpetrators of sexual harassment. Supervisors (6) and other fellow nurses (4) were the main perpetrators of bullying. Also high rate 74.4% (169) of violence cases were reported to the management. Effect of workplace violence mostly experienced by nurses were repeated memories 81.3% (185%), loss of self-esteem 66.6% (151), worrying of  going back to work 65.8% (149), not doing job well 59.4% (135) and requiring time off from work 44.7% (101). About 77% (175) of the hospital management have policies on health and safety, with high awareness level 74.9% (170) on workplace violence issues. There was no statistical significant difference in the rate of violence observed between the various age groups of nurses, except for verbal abuse (P < 0.05) at 0.025.