Workplace Violence against Health Care Workers in North Chinese Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Peihang Sun, Xue Zhang, Yihua Sun, Hongkun Ma, Mingli Jiao, Kai Xing, Zheng Kang, Ning Ning, Yapeng Fu, Qunhong Wu and Mei Yin
Additional contact information
Peihang Sun: Department of Health, Policy and Hospital Management, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Xue Zhang: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Yihua Sun: Human Resources Department, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai 200000, China
Hongkun Ma: Department of Finance and Public Management, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin 150081, China
Mingli Jiao: Department of Health, Policy and Hospital Management, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Kai Xing: Department of Health, Policy and Hospital Management, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Zheng Kang: Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Ning Ning: Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Yapeng Fu: Graduate Department of Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150000, China
Qunhong Wu: Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China
Mei Yin: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: This research aimed to determine the prevalence of workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers, explore the frequency distribution of violence in different occupational groups, and determine which healthcare occupation suffers from WPV most frequently. Furthermore, the current study aimed to compare risk factors affecting different types of WPV in Chinese hospitals. A cross-sectional design was utilized. A total of 1899 healthcare workers from Heilongjiang, a province in Northeastern China, completed the questionnaire. Of the respondents, 83.3% reported exposure to workplace violence, and 68.9% reported non-physical violence. Gender, education, shift work, anxiety level, and occupation were significantly correlated with physical violence ( p < 0.05 for all correlations). Additionally, age, professional title, and occupation were correlated with non-physical violence, which critically affected doctors. Thus, gender, age, profession, anxiety, and shift work were predictive of workplace violence toward healthcare workers. Doctors appeared to experience non-physical workplace violence with particularly higher frequency when compared to nurses and other workers in hospitals. For healthcare workers, interventions aimed at WPV reduction should be enacted according to the types of violence, profession, and other factors underlying the various types of WPV in hospitals.

Keywords: workplace violence; risk factors; different types of violence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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