Verbal and Non-Verbal Aggression in a Swiss University Emergency Room: A Descriptive Study

Dominic Kaeser, Rebekka Guerra, Osnat Keidar, Urs Lanz, Michael Moses, Christian Kobel, Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos and Meret E. Ricklin
Additional contact information
Dominic Kaeser: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Rebekka Guerra: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Osnat Keidar: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Urs Lanz: Security Service, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Michael Moses: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Christian Kobel: Legal service, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Meret E. Ricklin: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-7

Abstract: Workplace violence (WPV) by patients and visitors is a hazard in many emergency departments (ED), with serious consequences for both staff and patients. Patients with a migratory background seem to be prone to being involved in WPV. We therefore reviewed all reports of ED staff who experienced WPV over a 4-year period (2013–2016). We analyzed data on the reasons for the incident, the time of day, the manner of violence, the consequences, and the migratory background of the aggressor. In total, 83 cases of WPV were reported over a four-year period. The average age of the violent person was 33.1 years; in 35 cases (42.0%), aggressors were younger than 30 years old, 53 (63.8%) were male, 49 (59%) were of Swiss nationality, and 35–40% had a migratory background. The odds ratio of people originating from a low- to middle-income country versus those originating from a high-income country was 1.8. Furthermore, 45.8% of the patients arrived by ambulance ( n = 38) and 19 patients (22.9%) were self-presenting. Most cases (92.8%) involved verbal aggression, but in more than half of the cases, physical assault (56.6%) was also reported. In addition, 43 (51.8%) of the events occurred during the night. Results also showed that 42 (50.6%) of patients who were involved in WPV were under the influence of alcohol and 29 (34.9%) suffered from psychiatric disorders. Security personnel and police were involved in 53 (63.9%) and 47 (56.6%) cases, respectively. Twenty patients (24.1%) were sedated and 16 (19.3%) were restrained. In 18 cases (21.7%), the psychiatrist ordered compulsory hospitalization in a psychiatric institution. Taken together, WPV is a relatively common event in our ED and persons with a migratory background are involved more often relative to their frequency of ED visits.

Keywords: aggression; emergency department; workplace violence; migrants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1423/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1423/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1423-:d:156552

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().