Psychiatric Nurses’ Lived Experiences of Workplace Violence in Acute Care Psychiatric Units in Western Canada

Abstract

Workplace violence directed at nurses in healthcare settings is a common occurrence across the globe resulting in negative nurse and organizational implications that may impact the quality of care provided. Psychiatric nurses working on acute care psychiatric units are at an increased risk and are frequently subjected to patients’ violent and aggressive behaviors. These implications pose significant threats to the nurses’ emotional, physical, and psychological health. Efforts to reduce workplace violence on acute care psychiatric units requires an examination of psychiatric nurses’ lived experiences. A qualitative descriptive phenomenological inquiry was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 10 registered psychiatric nurses within a Western Canada health region to explore their lived experiences of patient-to-nurse workplace violence. The findings of this study highlight the implications of workplace violence and substantiates the urgent need to improve the safety on acute care psychiatric units.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.