Workplace Violence Experiences among Nurses Working in Tertiary Health Institutions in Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated the workplace violence experiences among nurses working in tertiary health institutions in Rivers State. Literature on the concept of workplace violence, physical violence, psychological workplace violence and factors associated with workplace violence were reviewed in the study, and the study hinged on the Social Cognitive Theory. The descriptive, cross-sectional design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised of one thousand and fifty-three (1,053) nurses in the tertiary health care institutions in Rivers State (Rivers State Hospital Management Board, 2020), with a sample size of 564 nurses which was determined using the Roasoft online sample size calculator using 95% confidence level. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and analysis was done using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation to answer research questions and inferential statistics such as one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The finding of the study showed that there was a significant difference between experiences of workplace violence among nurses working in tertiary health institutions based on job specification [F (7, 489) = .73; p>0.05]; there was no experiences of workplace violence among nurses working in tertiary health institutions based on the age s[F (7, 357) = .73; p>0.05]; amongst others. The study concluded that workplace violence was experienced more by those in paediatrics ward, those who were younger in age, those with longer years of experience and those who were females. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that tertiary health care facility management should organize educational programmes aimed at identifying and managing all types of violence by engaging experts in violence management as resource persons to teach the nurses from time to time, amongst others.