Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital
Objectives This study aims to analyse, from a descriptive and qualitative point of view, the episodes of violence reported by healthcare workers (HCWs) in a large public Italian hospital. Qualitative analysis permits us to collect the victims’ words used to describe the event and the ways in which t...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e031546.full |
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| author | Maria Michela Gianino Daniela Acquadro Maran Claudio Giovanni Cortese Pierluigi Pavanelli Giulio Fornero |
| author_facet | Maria Michela Gianino Daniela Acquadro Maran Claudio Giovanni Cortese Pierluigi Pavanelli Giulio Fornero |
| author_sort | Maria Michela Gianino |
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| description | Objectives This study aims to analyse, from a descriptive and qualitative point of view, the episodes of violence reported by healthcare workers (HCWs) in a large public Italian hospital. Qualitative analysis permits us to collect the victims’ words used to describe the event and the ways in which they dealt with it. A comparison between genders was performed to better understand what type of different strategies could be used to improve the prevention of workplace violence for HCWs.Design and setting The retrospective observational study was carried out in ‘Città della Salute e della Scienza’, a complex of four interconnected hospitals situated in Northern Italy. This study analysed aggression data from the 4-year period of 2015–2018 that included all HCW categories. The data were obtained from the aggression reporting form.Participants The analysed records were supplied by 396 HCWs (3.6% of all HCWs in the hospital).Results Male HCWs aged <30 years did not report violent episodes that occurred in the workplace, while male HCWs with 6–15 years of work experience reported more violent episodes than their female counterparts. Among the HCW professions, nursing was the profession, in which HCWs were more prone to experience a violent episode, while male medical doctors were more prone to report violent episodes than female medical doctors. Moreover, female HCWs experienced more verbal violence (insults) than male HCWs did, while male HCWs experienced more physical violence (bodily contact) than female HCWs did.Conclusions The findings from this explorative study suggest that there is a gender difference in the characteristics of workplace violence perpetrated by patients, patients’ relatives and visitors and in the way in which these episodes are described. Consequently, it is important for informative and preventive courses to consider gender differences in experiencing a violent episode. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e1fd893b53844f0cbc9429a76e4ff670 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-e1fd893b53844f0cbc9429a76e4ff6702024-11-29T09:00:07ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-11-0191110.1136/bmjopen-2019-031546Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospitalMaria Michela Gianino0Daniela Acquadro Maran1Claudio Giovanni Cortese2Pierluigi Pavanelli3Giulio Fornero4Department of Public Health Sciences and Pediatrics, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Piemonte, Italy1 Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy1 Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy2 Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Torino, Italy2 Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Torino, ItalyObjectives This study aims to analyse, from a descriptive and qualitative point of view, the episodes of violence reported by healthcare workers (HCWs) in a large public Italian hospital. Qualitative analysis permits us to collect the victims’ words used to describe the event and the ways in which they dealt with it. A comparison between genders was performed to better understand what type of different strategies could be used to improve the prevention of workplace violence for HCWs.Design and setting The retrospective observational study was carried out in ‘Città della Salute e della Scienza’, a complex of four interconnected hospitals situated in Northern Italy. This study analysed aggression data from the 4-year period of 2015–2018 that included all HCW categories. The data were obtained from the aggression reporting form.Participants The analysed records were supplied by 396 HCWs (3.6% of all HCWs in the hospital).Results Male HCWs aged <30 years did not report violent episodes that occurred in the workplace, while male HCWs with 6–15 years of work experience reported more violent episodes than their female counterparts. Among the HCW professions, nursing was the profession, in which HCWs were more prone to experience a violent episode, while male medical doctors were more prone to report violent episodes than female medical doctors. Moreover, female HCWs experienced more verbal violence (insults) than male HCWs did, while male HCWs experienced more physical violence (bodily contact) than female HCWs did.Conclusions The findings from this explorative study suggest that there is a gender difference in the characteristics of workplace violence perpetrated by patients, patients’ relatives and visitors and in the way in which these episodes are described. Consequently, it is important for informative and preventive courses to consider gender differences in experiencing a violent episode.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e031546.full |
| spellingShingle | Maria Michela Gianino Daniela Acquadro Maran Claudio Giovanni Cortese Pierluigi Pavanelli Giulio Fornero Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital BMJ Open |
| title | Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital |
| title_full | Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital |
| title_fullStr | Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital |
| title_short | Gender differences in reporting workplace violence: a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public Italian hospital |
| title_sort | gender differences in reporting workplace violence a qualitative analysis of administrative records of violent episodes experienced by healthcare workers in a large public italian hospital |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e031546.full |
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