Workplace Aggression: Exploring Experiences of Occupational Therapy Practitioners in Healthcare Settings

Abstract

Workplace aggression (WPA) among healthcare workers is a pervasive and serious problem in the healthcare industry, yet there is a poor understanding of WPA in the profession of occupational therapy (OT). The authors employed a mixed method design using a Likert scale survey and focus groups from two different settings and locations to explore WPA experiences of OT practitioners working in healthcare settings. Participants for the focus groups totaled 14 and 109 surveys were returned. The findings revealed that 100% of the focus group participants and 67% of the survey respondents report exposure to specific types of WPA. Key underlying causes relate to the challenges occupational therapy practitioner’s face in advocating their professional role and values in a predominant biomedical setting. These findings are important not only to increase awareness among practitioners, leaders, and educators but to further examine how occupational therapy’s unique role in healthcare can be fully recognized.

Keywords:

• Health care culture
• marginalization
• occupational therapy
• workplace aggression

Acknowledgments

Varleisha Gibbs, PhD, OTD, OTR/L Served as conceptual foundations advisor.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare there is no conflict of interest.

Research ethics and patient consent

Thomas Jefferson University Office of Human Research Institutional Review Board Control # 18E.70.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eileen Scanlon

Eileen Scanlon, OTD, OT/L, MBA, CHT, is an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Gannon University with over 30 years of experience in physical rehabilitation. She earned her OTD from Thomas University. This study was completed in partial fulfillment of the Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University.

Catherine Verrier Piersol

Catherine Verrier Piersol, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University with 40 years of experience. She serves as a doctoral student advisor in the Post-Professional OTD Program. Her work centers on optimizing performance and participation in people living with dementia and building skills in formal and informal caregivers.