Prevalence of Workplace Violence and Associated Factors Against Nurses Working in Public Health Facilities in Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background

Workplace violence is an important challenge faced by healthcare providers, especially nurses, throughout the world. But this issue is neglected in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of workplace violence and associated factors against nurses working in public health facilities.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in public health facilities in Gamo Gofa zone from February to March 2018. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 354 study respondents from selected public health facilities. The data was collected using a self-administered, pre-tested, and structured questionnaire and analyzed by using SPSS version 21. Descriptive analysis was made and both bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were applied to identify the factors associated with workplace violence against nurses.

Results

Out of the 348 participants, 150 (43.1%) nurses had experienced workplace violence. Among these, 47 (13.5%) had faced physical violence, 98 (28.2%) had verbal abuse, 36 (10.3%) were bullied/mobbed, and 25 (7.2%) faced sexual harassment at least once in the last 12 months. Patients’ relatives were the leading perpetrators in physical, verbal violence, and bullying, accounting 55.3%, 46.9%, and 36.1%, respectively. Female nurses (AOR=1.98; 95% CI=(1.21, 3.25), those who live without a spouse (AOR=1.98; 95% CI=(1.22, 3.22), those who drink alcohol (AOR=1.88; 95% CI=(1.03, 3.44), and those who chew chat (AOR=3.24; 95% CI=(1.25, 8.45) were more likely to suffer from workplace violence in public health facilities.

Conclusion

The prevalence of workplace violence against nurses was high. In addition, the characteristics of the occurrences of different types of violence are different beginning from the perpetrators’ characteristics to the measures taken by the nurses. In addition, sex, marital status, drinking alcohol, and chewing chat were found statistically significant factors influencing workplace violence against nurses.

Keywords:

• workplace
• violence
• public health facilities
• Arba Minch
• Ethiopia

Acknowledgments

We would like to give our gratitude to the nurses who gave us their valuable information. We would also like to forward our heartfelt thanks to the Gamo Gofa zone health office and health institutions for their cooperation and Arba Minch University for its financial support. We would also like to acknowledge the data collectors for their effort.

Abbreviations

ILO, International Labour Office; ICN, International Council of Nurses; IRB, Institutional Review Board; OPD, Outpatient Departments; PSI, Public Services International; SNNPR, South Nation Nationalities’ Peoples Region; SPSS, software package for social science; WHO, World Health Organization.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution on the conception of the study, in the data collection, data analysis, and interpretation. All authors took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests for this work.

Additional information

Funding

The fund for the data collection was obtained from Arba Minch University.