Verbal abuse of pediatric nurses by patients and families.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which nurses practicing in a pediatric hospital encounter verbal abuse by patients and families and their reactions to this abuse. BACKGROUND: Verbal abuse, the most common type of workplace violence against nurses results in declining morale and job satisfaction, and can negatively impact nurse turnover and quality of patient care. METHODS: The study employed a concurrent triangulation strategy using mixed methods. The 162 nurses who volunteered completed a 3-part questionnaire, and a subgroup participated in one of three focus groups. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of subjects reported verbal abuse an average of 4 times per month. The majority of these continued to think about the incident for a few hours (25%), a few days (36%), or a week or more (12%). Nearly half reported feeling angry or powerless and 14% said they thought of leaving their position. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study described the nature and scope of the problem, and prompted improvement in processes and education to support nurses.

Virtual journal club connects evidence to practice: an analysis of participant responses.

Advancing evidence-based practice in hospitals can be a challenge. To address this issue, a virtual journal club (VJC) was developed using available intranet technology. Research manuscripts are posted along with professional critiques and discussion questions. Comments from nurse VJC participants are reviewed by the hospital's nursing research council and analyzed for practice implications. Recommendations for practice change derived from the analysis are forwarded to the appropriate decision-making body for consideration. This process closes the loop ensuring that the VJC not only exposes the nursing staff to scientific evidence to support changing their practice but also may lead to institutional policy changes that are based on best practice evidence in the literature. The authors discuss the VJC and the outcomes of an evaluation project.