Prevalence and Risk Factors of Workplace Violence Against Emergency Department Nurses in China

Zihui Lei; Shijiao Yan; Heng Jiang; Jing Feng; Shuyang Han; Chulani Herath; Xin Shen; Rui Min; Chuanzhu Lv; Yong Gan

doi:10.3389/ijph.2022.1604912

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Workplace Violence Against Emergency Department Nurses in China

Int J Public Health. 2022 Aug 4:67:1604912. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604912. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zihui Lei¹, Shijiao Yan^{2

3}, Heng Jiang^{4

5}, Jing Feng¹, Shuyang Han⁶, Chulani Herath⁷, Xin Shen¹, Rui Min¹, Chuanzhu Lv^{8

9}, Yong Gan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital/The First Affiliated Hospital, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
³ School of Public Health, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
⁴ Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁶ The Fourth Clinical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
⁷ Department of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
⁸ Emergency Medicine Center, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
⁹ Research Unit of Island Emergency Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.

Abstract

Objectives: We aim to find out the prevalence, characteristics, and predictors of workplace violence (WPV) against current Chinese emergency department (ED) nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 20,136 ED nurses was conducted in 31 provinces in China between July and September 2019. Descriptive analyses were used to examine the prevalence and characteristics of WPV. Chi-square analysis and Binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the predictors of WPV. Results: During the past 12 months, there are 79.39% of ED nurses exposed to any type of WPV, including 78.38% and 39.65% exposed to nonphysical and physical violence, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis shows that ED nurses who were male, had bachelor's degrees, had average monthly salary between 5,001 and 12,000, worked in central China, had higher professional titles, were more experienced, arranging shift work, and had higher work stress were more likely to experience WPV. Conclusion: A relatively high prevalence of WPV against Chinese ED nurses has been revealed in this study. The characteristics and predictors of WPV remind us to take positive measures to reduce WPV.

Keywords: China; emergency department nurses; influencing factors; prevalence; workplace violence.

MeSH terms

China / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Humans
Male
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Workplace
Workplace Violence*