Free Paper on Workplace Violence in Healthcare: A Focus on Remote Area Nurses

Introduction

Occupational violence is a prevalent issue affecting the healthcare profession globally. Remote area nurses are the group that is majorly affected by workplace violence with an approximate figure of 67-80%. Remote area physicians experience workplace violence either verbally or physically, which later hinders the nurses’ ability to deliver quality care to patients seeking medical attention within healthcare settings in rural areas. Occupational violence is defined as a form of either physical or psychological abuse or assault in instances related to one’s occupation. The management of workplace risks, occupational health, and healthcare literature link three sources of workplace violence. Internal workplace violence entails the occupational violence experienced among employees within a healthcare system. On the other hand, external workplace violence is the kind of occupational violence experienced between healthcare employees and the people that are unknown to the healthcare system such as patients. However, the study excluded internal violence as a factor that precipitates workplace violence.

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The consequences of workplace violence in rural healthcare givers resurface at personal and organizational levels. At the organizational level, workplace violence is revealed through increased turnover, high levels of absenteeism, and internal workplace violence. At a personal level, consistent exposure to workplace violence results in increased levels of anxiety coupled with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Summary of the Study

Workplace violence towards healthcare nurses working in remote areas is one of the healthcare predicaments that affect the healthcare profession in the delivery of quality care globally. Occupational violence towards remote area nurses amounts to an alarming figure of 80%, yet the healthcare profession is yet to develop strategic measures necessary to combat the problem to ensure that remote area nurses offer healthcare support to patients with minimal instances of workplace violence. In countries such as Australia, workplace violence towards remote area physicians is prevalent compared to urbanized nurses. Although prior studies have focused on the frequency and severity of occupational violence, a rigorous threat sketch for the rural health setting is yet to be explored. Thus, the study focuses on the two dissimilar but interrelated domains with these being workplace characteristics and managerial culture.

Synopsis

In a view to comprehend workplace violence towards nurses who work in remote healthcare givers, a quantitative exploratory approach was employed to explore the remote area nurses' exposure to patient, professional, and ecological physiognomies. In addition, the effects of the managerial culture and structures were also explored in line with remote area nurses. The authenticity of the study was officiated by obtaining ethics approval from the Deakin Faculty of Health Ethics Commission (Wressell et al., 2018). On the other hand, a survey method was employed to conduct the research. However, the inability of the tool to be sourced prompted the need to conduct the research using the two techniques with these being Worksafe Victoria and Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations risk factor check.

Worksafe Victoria is a healthcare instrument purposely developed for health sites to register managerial blockades associated with reporting instances of workplace violence. For instance, if a remote area nurse faces instances of workplace violence, he or she is permitted to report the instance to Worksafe Victoria so that he or she is aided to mitigate the impacts that stem from occupational violence. Additionally, the Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations risk factor check is a tool developed to identify occupational as well as ecological and patient risk dynamics in healthcare settings. Notably the tool collects statistical data regarding workplace violence within healthcare settings that target rural area nurses.

Instruments of collecting data were first tested before being used to collect data to ensure that the results recorded from these instruments were accurate and up-to-date. The Worksafe Victoria and Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations risk factor check instruments for collecting data are deemed authentic due to the initial experimental testing before being used to collect data (Wressell et al., 2018). The two instruments have been verified using focus groups and industrial use. More so, the survey questions were revised twice in which duplicate questions were removed to ensure each question was allocated enough time for respondents to answer. On the same note, questions that would result in the identification of respondents were removed to guarantee participants their ethnic confidentiality. The revised questions were combined into a single survey and the textboxes for comments were added to permit for a wide understanding of replies.

The annexation standards for respondents comprised registered physicians employed in secluded settings in Australia. The standard definition of remoteness was articulated to the Australian statistical geography standards that apply to other terms such as remote or very remote. However, the exclusion criteria involved registered nurses who had no record of having worked in rural settings for a period of four weeks. The core goal of incorporating exclusion criteria was to ensure that remote area nurses were selected based on their contemporary experience in workplace violence.

The respondents were selected based on healthcare professions. Notably, CRANA, an Australian college of nursing, and a remote area nurse on Facebook. The consent of each participant was obtained to ensure that every participant responded to the given survey questions freely and willingly. However, participants who had consented to participate in the survey were not permitted to leave survey rooms prior to the completion of the survey process.

After collecting the respondents’ views, data analysis was performed using arithmetical sculpting methods. These methods included t-tests, chi-squares, and basic data modeling in a view to detect the link between variables (Wressell et al., 2018). Similarly, the bias that emanates from wrong question order was addressed to ensure that certain questions do not prompt participants to offer certain answers.

Approximately 99 remote area nurses offered a positive response to the survey. A significant number of participants were registered nurses employed in the northern territory, amounting to 47.2%. A minimal split of 42% existed between nurses who were permanently employed and those who worked as interns. Such a low number of responses would amount to unintentional alteration and as such, we decided to eliminate these replies while analyzing data.

Conclusion

The nature of the working environment in healthcare is the core cause that creates a risk profile for outward and patient-umpired occupational violence. Workplace place violence towards remote area nurses is linearly linked to individualistic items faced. Healthcare givers ought to educate remote nurses on the mitigation strategies that target to solve internal and external factors that necessitate the occurrence of workplace violence in a view to mitigate the individual risk factors that necessitate workplace violence. The healthcare organization is mandated to offer remote area nurses a work environment that stimulates a safety culture to ensure that nurses working in remote areas offer quality care to patients within minimal timeframes.

References

Wressell, J. A., Rasmussen, B., & Driscoll, A. (2018). Exploring the workplace violence risk profile for remote area nurses and the impact of organisational culture and risk management strategy. Collegian, 25(6), 601-606. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1322769618300787