The Role of Individual, Situational and Interactional Factors in Violence: The Case of Personnel Victimization in Hospital Emergency Wards

Abstract

Victimization through violence against personnel in the emergency ward (EW) was studied in all 25 general hospitals in Israel, using a self-report questionnaire (N = 1,484). Informed by routine activity theory as well as stress (negative affect) theories, the study analyzed victim and offender related variables, as well as structural, situational and interactional variables. A Victimization Seriousness Score (VSS) was constructed, based on participants' reports about the most serious type of violence they had experienced from patients and/or their relatives during the preceding year. The multiple regression analysis to explain the VSS was comprised of 35 independent variables relating to the victim's professional and personal characteristics, the hospital's structural features, and the offenders' personal characteristics, as well as situational and interactional factors, jointly explaining 47.4% of the variance (R2 = 0.474). As predicted, victimization by more serious violence was related to being security or nursing staff, positions of authority, and having no access to an emergency button. Male gender and being of Israeli or European/American origin (mainly from the former Soviet Union) was also related to more severe victimization. Offenders behaving more violently were younger, of Asian/African origin, new immigrants, and initially unstable (alcoholics, drug addicts, homeless, or psychiatric disorders). More serious victimization took place during evening shifts, related to severe medical problems and was characterized by the victim's inability to verbally communicate with the offender, and by calling other staff for help. The study demonstrates the importance of situational and interactional variables, and that violence in the EW is best explained by a comprehensive theoretical model that combines a routine activity approach with stress (negative affect) models. Suggestions are put forward for further research in this area.

User violence towards nursing professionals in mental health services and emergency units

“…Significant differences were detected in the subscale of nonphysical violence between nurses and auxiliary nursing staff. This variable could be related to the position of authority, indicated by some authors as a risk factor (Landau & Bendalak, 2010). In this sense, Gascón et al (2009) analyzed professional category as a risk factor, concluding that there is a direct association between the level of responsibility and exposure to non-physical violence, such that doctors and directors were the most exposed personnel.…”

General self-efficacy and the effect of hospital workplace violence on doctors’ stress and job satisfaction in China

“…Verbal violence-caused hurt can be as severe as that induced by physical violence [3,4]. Several studies show that of all industries health care workers constitute one of the groups of the most susceptible to workplace violence individuals [5][6][7][8][9]. In the past decade, the number of hospital workplace violence in China has extremely increased due to the tense relationships between patients and doctors.…”

Ticket inspectors in action: Body-worn camera analysis of aggressive and nonaggressive passenger encounters.

“…Highlighting this issue, four percent of European employees report having been exposed to physical violence by a citizen within the last year, with verbal victimizations being even more prevalent (LeBlanc & Kelloway, 2002;Milczarek, 2010). Public employees identified to be at risk include healthcare workers (Landau & Bendalak, 2010), police officers (Rabe-Hemp & Schuck, 2007), social workers (Ringstad, 2005), correctional officers (Konda, Reichard, & Tiesman, 2012), bus drivers and ticket inspectors (Assunção & Medeiros, 2015;Geoffrion et al, 2017;Piquero et al, 2013). The known health and well-being consequences for victimized public employees (for a review, see Lanctôt & Guay, 2014) emphasize the need to investigate the dynamics of workplace aggression in order to inform preventive strategies.…”

“…By comparison, few studies have examined how victimizations may be shaped by the face-to-face interaction patterns between the employees and citizens (van Reemst, 2016). Among the key exceptions, Landau and Bendalak (2010) examined the factors related to staff victimizations in hospital emergency wards and showed a positive association between the inability to communicate effectively with patients and the likelihood of serious aggression towards staff. Also emphasizing the importance of communication, Rabe-Hemp and Schuck (2007) found a lower likelihood of police staff victimizations in cases where the officers initiated contact with citizens when first arriving to the scene.…”