Incidence and Cost of Nurse Workplace Violence Perpetuated by Hospital Patients or Patient Visitors

Published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing, the following study investigates the incidence of workplace violence against nurses perpetrated by patients or visitors in their hospital system. Over the past year, 76.0% experienced violence, such as shouting or yelling, swearing or cursing, grabbing, and scratching or kicking. Emergency nurses experienced a significantly greater number of incidents. Perpetrators were primarily white male patients, aged 26 to 35 years, who were confused or influenced by alcohol or drugs. Per database review, annual workplace violence charges for the 2.1% of nurses reporting injuries were $94,156.

Topics:
Practice Environment

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