Violence Against Nurses

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTION 2

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTION 5

Problem Statement and Research Question

Rosekate Ugorji

California Baptist University

Running head: PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTION 1

Problem Statement and Research Question

The problem in the work environment that need to be change or decrease the incident from occurring is violence and aggression in the work place. The problem is safety of the nurses and the population involved are mental health nurses. This is a problem because many nurses that work in mental health are been injured by patients either through physical assault, threatened behavior, or verbal aggression. According to Edward (2014), personal experience on violence and

Violent incidents in the health care environment can be terribly destructive, influencing nurses? personal and professional life, also affects quality of care in a negative way (Esmaeilpour et al., 2010). Workplace violence is a significant problem and a key issue in the eyes of nurses (Chen et al., 2012). Studies done in different countries shows that 40% of nurses responded that they had experienced violence within the last year and 60% had been physically attacked (Chen et al., 2012). According to Blando et al (2013), nurses have reported much higher stress levels as a result of perceived risk of violence. As a result of workplace violence, 40% of nurses reported physically violated and 25.8% of verbally abused nurses reported that they had been extremely bothered by repeated disturbing memories, thoughts or images of the attack (Esmaeilpour et al.,

It decreases quality of care provided to the patients, patient experience less care, and unmet needs due to shortage of nurses. It causes decrease productivity, turnovers, decrease staff, reduced quality of care, and decrease job satisfaction in the organization. According to Edward (2014), the nurse may respond to aggression with absenteeism from work, change of job, or leaving the nursing profession. The study done in 1998 shows that many nurses who were the victims of violence, experienced physical, emotional, professional shortage, and long-term effects (Esmaeilpour et al., 2010). Nurses who experienced physical abuse always have emotional problems such as sadness, frustration, self-blame, fear, and change in relationship with co-workers and families, feelings of guilt, and incompetence. Nurses who experience aggression tend to become more apathetic towards patients and less caring, and this can lead to poor care and less patient satisfaction (Blando et al.,