WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST NURSES WORKING IN KHORRAMABAD EDUCATIONAL HOSPITALS AND THEIR CONFRONTING BEHAVIORS IN VIOLENT EVENTS

Workplace violence is considered as a health problem in nursing profession.
The aim of this study was to determine nurses behavior meeting to workplace violence and their
confronting reactions in violent events.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted on all of nursing staffs of
Khorramabad educational hospital in 2011. A questionnaire containing, personal and occupational
characteristics, prevalence of four types of occupational violence (Physical, Verbal, Racial and
sexual), nurses confronting behavior and violence predisposing factors was used. After collecting, the
data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean and frequencies by SPSSversion16.
Results: Analysis of the data showed that the most frequent type of violence against nurses was
verbal violence committed by patient and their relatives (%78.5), managers (%46.2) and staffs
(%43.1) respectively. The least frequent type of workplace violence was the sexual one. Most of the
nurses' confronting violent behavior was calling hospital guard, and most of the nurses’ confronting
behavior was ineffective.
Conclusion: The result showed high prevalence of violence against nursing staffs, and the use of
ineffective confronting behavior by nurses. Therefore it is necessary to develop educational program
to empower the nursing staff against violent events