Status and influencing factors of psychological violence against healthcare workers in a secondary Grade A hospital / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study the status and influencing factors of psychological violence in healthcare workers(HCWs) of a secondary Grade A hospital. METHODS: A total of 1 028 HCWs in a secondary Grade A hospital were selected as the study subjects in 2019 using a typical sampling method. The psychological violence they had received in the previous year was investigated using the Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Case Studies Research Instruments--Survey Questionnaire. The results were compared with the baseline survey results in 2018. RESULTS: The incidence of psychological violence in the workplace of HCWs in 2019 was 41.6%, among which the incidence of verbal abuse, bullying/gang bullying, sexual harassment and racial discrimination were 40.2%, 9.9%, 1.9% and 1.6%, respectively. The incidence of verbal abuse, bullying/gang bullying and psychological violence among HCWs in 2019 were decreased compared with that in 2018(45.7% vs 40.2%, 12.8% vs 9.9%, 47.1% vs 41.6%, all P<0.05). The binary logistic regression analysis results showed that the HCWs in medical technology, internal medicine, surgery, outpatient and emergency departments were at higher risk of verbal abuse than that in administrative departments(all P<0.01). The HCWs in direct contact with patients had a higher risk of verbal abuse and psychological violence(all P<0.01). The HCWs aged <35 and those with night-shift-work had higher risks of bullying/gang bullying(all P<0.05). Male HCWs had a higher risk of sexual harassment than female HCWs(P<0.05). The coping style of attempting to conceal the occurrence of the incident after HCWs suffered psychological violence dropped from 5.8% in 2018 to 0.5% in 2019(P<0.01), and the proportion of no response was as high as 59.1%. CONCLUSION: The psychological violence of HCWs in this hospital is very serious and has specific features. The incidence of psychological violence decreased compared with that a year ago, but there is still room for improvement. The influencing factors of psychological violence are complex and the consequences are serious. Therefore, it is urgent for HCWs and hospital management departments to improve their management methods.