Workplace Violence

The RCN commissioned a survey of 6,000 members in 2000 to explore nurses’ wellbeing and working lives. The results subsequently helped shape RCN policy and materials for members on topics such as bullying and harassment, violence, needlestick injury and employee-friendly working practices. Five years later, the RCN has commissioned a second survey looking at a similar range of issues. This report documents the findings of that survey, and describes differences between the 2000 and 2005 survey findings. [introduction]

Many health care organisations recognise the importance of taking a proactive approach to dealing with workplace harassment and bullying. Its effects are harmful to all concerned – the people directly involved in a complaint, team members and the whole organisation…This document provides guidance for managers and RCN negotiators on good practice in dealing with workplace bullying and harassment. [from introduction]

This guide is aimed mainly at nursing students. It should help you to: recognize if you or a collegue are being bullied or harassed; take action against bullying or harassment; raise awareness of the problem with employers, educators and students; encourage nursing educators and employers to carry through anti-harassment policies. [from introduction]

The objective of these guidelines is to provide general guidance in addressing workplace violence in the health sector. Far from being in any way prescriptive, the guidelines should be considered a basic reference tool for stimulating the autonomous development of similar instruments specifically targeted at and adapted to different cultures, situations and needs. The guidelines cover prevention, management and mitigation of the impact of workplace violence, care and support of workers affected and sustainability of initiatives. [adapted from author]

This training manual is a complement to the Framework Guidelines for Addressing Workplace Violence in the Health Sector. It is a practical, user-friendly tool that builds on the policy approach of the guidelines. Representatives of governments, employers and workers would be well served to use the manual in training situations, so as to encourage social dialogue among health sector stakeholders and develop, in consultation, approaches to address violence in the workplace. [adapted from introduction]


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The objectives of these guidelines are: to review the prevalence, incidence and impact of abuse and violence against nursing personnel, to recognise nurses’ responses to incidents of violence, to determine the major security factors acting on the workplace, and to present strategies that aim to confront and reduce/eliminate violence in the workplace. [adapted from introduction]

The present study reviews and analyses major known national guidelines and strategies for prevention and management of workplace violence. The purpose is to get a detailed picture of strategies recommended, a better knowledge on existing guidance for employers and employees. Another objective is to obtain information on the implementation processes and the impact of the reviewed guidelines. Identification of good practices as well as gaps shall serve as a basis for lessons learnt for the development of future guidance materials. The comparison of the guidelines will cover different aspects which can be summarized as background of the guidelines, strategies which are recommended, implementation and impact of guidelines and strategies.

Strategies to prevent and manage violence and aggression in the health care setting have become a primary health and safety issue. A series of vignettes are provided to highlight key elements in developing a program for preventing behavioural violence and aggression in a tertiary hospital. Key components of the program include staff education and training, risk assessment and management practices, the use of patient contracts and policy development. The program aims to integrate and balance occupational health and safety obligations to staff with the duty of care owed to patients. [abstract]

The National Health Service published guidance to help protect staff who work alone and who do not have access to immediate support from colleagues or others. This guidance provides a template from which local employers can develop procedures and systems to protect lone workers. It contains information on how technology can be used to help provide a safer environment and to help nurses feel more confident about their personal safety. The RCN wanted to find out if the situation for nurses working in the community has improved since 2005, their perception of risk, their experiences of assault and abuse, whether technology has been provided, and how incidents are handled.

Violence in the social services work place in general, and the developmental services in particular, has increased in the last several years. Findings from an ethnographic study suggests that new, lean forms of work organization remove opportunities to use or learn many of the tacit or practice skills workers previously used to keep themselves and their clients safer in the work place. This article describes many of these skills and the new management schemes that remove the possibility to develop or transmit these praxis skills. The article concludes by analyzing the convergence between the new labour processes and the competency approach to work place skills.

This report is the outcome of a seminar held in Brussels on 15th June 2004. The aims of the seminar were firstly to share information on gender and occupational safety and health (OSH) issues, including a gender-sensitive approach in OSH and how gender can be mainstreamed into OSH, and secondly to facilitate discussion and debate among EU and national authorities, social partners and experts on how to take forward gender issues in OSH. It includes proposals for taking forward gender issues in OSH. [Publisher’s description]

This study aims to summarise information, research and practice relating to the management of workplace violence victims under a set outline. The objectives are to confirm the importance of victim management to minimise the consequences of workplace violence in the health sector; to present the range of measures being used to meet the needs of victims, management and policy-makers; and where possible, provide data suggesting effectiveness and sustainability of the various measures. [from introduction]

This study was done to determine the prevalence of experiences with physical violence and psychological violence that health staff have had in the workplace in Jamaica, and to identify factors associated with those experiences of violence. [from abstract]

To objective of this article was to determine the prevalence and nature of workplace violence against nurses, how nurses deal with such aggression; and to identify the risk factors related to violence in the hospital environment. [author’s description]

The incidence and severity of occupational violence varies across health care occupations because risk factors differ between locations and according to job tasks. Patterns of violence also vary because some health workplaces adopt improved prevention. This discussion paper provides an overview of some of the strategies that may reduce the incidence and severity of occupational violence. [adapted from author]

Based on extensive literature analysis, this study tackles, for the first time in an extensive way, the topical issues of stress and violence at work in the health sector. The study highlights the magnitude of the problem; the key-factors at stake; the way such factors inter-relate with each other; their impact on working conditions and employment; the cost to the individual, the enterprise and the community, and offers innovative approaches to cope in an effective way with such problems. [from summary]

This report is intended to study the scope and extent of sexual harassment faced by women workers in Mexico. It is part of a series of similar reports for the International Labor Rights Fund’s Rights for Working Women Campaign, with the aim of preventing violence in the workplace against women in developing countries. This study provides background on occupational conditions affecting women wage workers and the legal framework of existing protections for them, highlight certain findings from research data, and provides recommendations on how the problem of sexual harassment should be addressed in Mexico.

This report has been prepared by the International Labour Office as the basis for discussions at the Joint Meeting on Terms of Employment and Working Conditions in Health Sector Reforms. It reviews the impact of health sector reforms on health workers and the implications of changes in employment and pay, labour relations, working conditions and terms of employment on the general performance of health systems in the light of the links between health policy, human health and the economy. [preface]

This report results from a research project on violence against health care providers in selected health care units in Maputo city. The main objective of this work was to analyse the level of violence which existed in the hospitals of Maputo city, identifying the factors and forms of struggle or prevention of these events. [from introduction]

Workplace violence is one of the most complex and dangerous occupational hazards facing nurses working in today’s health care environment. This article includes critiques of the conceptual, empirical, and policy progress of the past decade, a discussion of the need for methodologically rigorous intervention effectiveness research, and a description of a joint-labor management research effort aimed at documenting a process to reduce violence in a state mental health system. [from abstract]

The objective of the country case studies consists in showing country-specific evidence and practical solutions concerning workplace violence in the health sector. By summarising existing information and analysing newly obtained information the study aims to identify risk factors as well as best practices of anti-violence interventions in the given socio-cultural context. This work will serve as a basis for the formulation of guidelines for prevention and coping strategies targeting issues of workplace violence in the health sector. [author’s description]

This case study examines the problem of workplace violence in the health sector of Bulgaria through consulting, examination and content analysis of the information and research available as well as conducting 6 focus groups and a confidential sociological survey. [adapted from author]

The purpose of the study is to obtain information on the level of workplace violence in the health sector in South Africa. In particular this study examines the extent of workplace violence, factors that may contribute to violence and explore the most suitable strategies and appropriate policies to prevent and address violence in the workplace. [introduction]

This research study gathered baseline information about occupational violence in the health care industry in Australia, to identify the contexts in which violence most commonly occurs, and to provide guidance on high-risk sites and commonly reported patterns of violent incidents. [adapted from author]

This research report has been published to illustrate the situation of workplace violence in the health sector in Thailand as well as contributing factors to, the consequences, and management of that violence. [from preface]

The International Labour Office (ILO), the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Services International (PSI) launched in 2000 a joint programme in order to develop sound policies and practical approaches for the prevention and elimination of violence in the health sector. When the programme was first established and information gaps were identified, it was decided to launch a number of country studies as well as cross-cutting theme studies and to conclude by drafting guidelines to address workplace violence in the health sector. This working paper presents the Synthesis Report of the commissioned country reports to stimulate further discussion in the area of workplace violence, encourage fact-finding research in other countries and support sound policy-making.

This case study evaluates workplace violence in the health sector of Lebanon. Information for the study came from focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and a questionnaire.

These studies measure and characterize the problem of violence against health professionals in the workplace in selected settings in Portugal. They answer questions such as: Who are the most affected health professionals? What types of violence are most frequent? In what circumstances do episodes of violence happen? What are the institutional procedures? What are the consequences for the victims, the Institutions and the perpetrators? What is the positioning of the NHS managers, the professional councils the unions and the professional associations about this problem? [author’s description]

This State of the Art paper explores the literature and issues associated with violence in the health sector. It draws on the expertise of leading international experts in the field of violence at work, getting them to focus on the health sector. We assess in this paper the scope, definition and global context of workplace violence, information and reporting of violence, existing evidence of the prevalence of violence, the origins of violence, the impact of violence, and prevention and interventions to minimize workplace violence in the health sector. The final section highlights some of the gaps in research and practice.

This document contains suggestions for creating a workplace violence policy, a sample corporate policy and a sample workplace violence policy statement.