The Management of Workplace Violence against Healthcare Workers: A Multidisciplinary Team for Total Worker Health ® Approach in a Hospital

Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio (), Giorgia Bondanini, Federica De Falco, Maria Rosaria Vinci, Vincenzo Camisa, Annapaola Santoro, Marcello De Santis, Massimiliano Raponi, Guendalina Dalmasso and Salvatore Zaffina
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Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio: Alta Scuola di Economia e Management dei Sistemi Sanitari (ALTEMS), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
Giorgia Bondanini: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Federica De Falco: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Maria Rosaria Vinci: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Vincenzo Camisa: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Annapaola Santoro: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Marcello De Santis: Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Massimiliano Raponi: Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Guendalina Dalmasso: Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Salvatore Zaffina: Occupational Medicine Function Unit, Health Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: The risk of aggression against healthcare workers (HCWs) is a globally well-known topic. However, workplace violence (WV) is often considered as part of HCW’s job, leading to a general underreporting. This cross-sectional study aims at providing a descriptive analysis of aggressive acts against HCWs registered in a 34-month period in a pediatric hospital. According to a specific protocol, each aggressive act was analyzed by a multidisciplinary team using the “Modified Overt Aggression Scale” (MOAS), the “General Health Questionnaire-12” (GHQ-12), and the “Short Form-36 Health Survey” (SF-36) to build a report addressing improvement measures. A three-domain model of WV was also developed considering: (1) assaulted HCWs, (2) attacker-related issues, and (3) environmental context. Contributing factors to overt aggression were outlined and tested using univariate analyses. Statistically significant factors were then included in a multiple linear regression model. A total of 82 aggressive acts were registered in the period. MOAS scores registered a mean value of 3.71 (SD: 4.09). Verbal abuse was the most common form of WV. HCWs professional category, minor psychiatric disorder, emotional role limitation, type of containment used, and emotion intensity were significantly associated with overt aggression ( p < 0.05), as well as the attacker’s role in the hospital ( p < 0.05). The multiple regression analysis confirmed these findings ( p < 0.001). Raising awareness on the aggression risk and contributing factors may lead to a relevant improvement of workplace environment, individual workers’ health, and organizational well-being.

Keywords: aggression; mental health; prevention; psychological well-being; health promotion; emotion; organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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