Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia VARSTVOSLOVJE, Journal of Criminal Justice and Security, year 19 no. 2 pp. 151-166 Branko Gabrovec Purpose: This paper presents a systematic review of research studies conducted in the field of violence directed towards nursing employees in Slovenia. The purpose of this paper is to establish the types and prevalence of violence, as well as the methodology and deficiencies of the research conducted to date. The findings can support systematic measures for preventing, reporting and surviving such violence. The descriptive research methodology was applied when examining peer-reviewed literature on violence directed towards nursing employees in Slovenia. A systematic literature review was conducted as it enables data to be obtained from various sources, in our case 15 articles/sources were selected for the analysis, while ensuring a holistic understanding of the research subject. The results show nursing employees are exposed to a high level of work-related violence against them, which in all fields is considerable, but especially in intensive psychiatric nursing care. Further qualitative research is needed to shed light on the detailed characteristics and background of such violence. Tackling violence within the healthcare system demands a wide and interdisciplinary approach. Practical Implications: The results of this study can provide the basis for further research and the development of a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to tackle violence directed at nursing employees. UDC: 343.62:614 Keywords: violence, aggression, nursing, employees, Slovenia Nasilje nad zaposlenimi v zdravstveni negi v Sloveniji Namen prispevka: Prispevek predstavlja sistematični pregled raziskav na področju nasilja, ki je usmerjeno proti zaposlenim v zdravstveni negi v Sloveniji. Namen prispevka je ugotoviti vrste in prevalenco nasilja, uporabljene raziskave in pomanjkljivosti opravljenih raziskav. Ugotovitve lahko podpirajo sistematične preventivne, administrativne in preživetvene ukrepe. Methods: Findings: 18 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia Metode: Uporabljena je bila deskriptivna metoda za pregled recenzirane literature na področju nasilja, usmerjenega proti zaposlenim v zdravstveni negi. Sistematičen pregled literature je bil izbran, ker omogoča pridobitev podatkov iz več virov in zagotavlja celostno razumevanje obravnavane teme. Za analizo je bilo izbranih 15 člankov/virov. Ugotovitve: Rezultati kažejo na visoko izpostavljenost nasilju zaposlenih v zdravstveni negi. Ta izpostavljenost je na vseh področjih velika, še posebej v intenzivni psihiatrični negi. Potreben je nadaljnji kvalitativen pristop, ki bo omogočal razkritje podrobnejših karakteristik in ozadij tovrstnega nasilja. Obravnava nasilja v zdravstvenem sistemu zahteva širok in interdisciplinarni pristop. Praktična uporabnost: Rezultati prispevka so lahko temelj za nadaljnje raziskave in razvoj obsežnega ter multidisciplinarnega pristopa za obravnavo nasilja, ki je usmerjeno proti zaposlenim v zdravstveni negi. UDK: 343.62:614 Ključne besede: nasilje, agresija, zdravstvena nega, zaposleni, Slovenija 1 INTRODUCTION In recent times, like elsewhere, several incidences of violence directed at nursing staff have occurred in Slovenia and, as a consequence, a number of studies have been conducted to examine violence directed at nursing staff. Since workplace violence in the healthcare system is a growing issue of concern, we carried out an overview of existing studies in Slovenia to support the required systematic measures for preventing, reporting and surviving such violence. This paper presents a systematic review of research studies conducted in the field of violence directed at nursing employees in Slovenia. The paper's purpose is to establish the types and prevalence of violence, along with the methodology and deficiencies of the research conducted so far. The findings can support systematic measures for preventing, reporting and surviving such violence. Work-related violence, defined as violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at work or on duty, is recognised as a major problem (Gerberich et al., 2004). Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behaviour that occurs at the location of work. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors (US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002). Workplace violence entails a broader problem. It is any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in his or her employment. Such violence includes (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2014): 152 Branko Gabrovec • threatening behaviour - such as shaking fists, destroying property or throwing objects; • verbal or written threats - any expression of an intent to inflict harm; • harassment - any behaviour that demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms or verbally abuses a person and which is known or would be expected to be unwelcome. This includes words, gestures, intimidation, bullying or other inappropriate activities; • verbal abuse - swearing, insults or condescending language; and • physical attacks - hitting, shoving, pushing or kicking. Planning efforts must focus on preventing, reporting, surviving and responding to these incidents. The most important component of any workplace violence prevention programme is management commitment. Management commitment is best communicated in a written policy. The policy should (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2014): • be developed by management and employee representatives; • apply to management, employees, clients, independent contractors and anyone with a relationship with the company; • define what is meant by workplace violence in precise, concrete language; • provide clear examples of unacceptable behaviour and working conditions; • state in clear terms the organisation's view on workplace violence and its commitment to preventing workplace violence; • precisely state the consequences of making threats or committing violent acts; • outline the process through which preventive measures will be developed; • encourage reporting of all incidents of violence; • outline the confidential process by which employees can report incidents, and to whom; • assure no reprisals will be made against reporting employees; • outline the procedures for investigating and resolving complaints; • describe how information about potential risks of violence will be communicated to employees; • make a commitment to provide support services to victims of violence; • offer a confidential Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to allow employees with personal problems to seek help; • make a commitment to fulfil the violence prevention training needs of different levels of personnel within the organisation; • make a commitment to monitor and regularly review the policy; and • state the applicable regulatory requirements. Certain work factors, processes and interactions can put people at increased risk of workplace violence. Examples include (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2014): • working with the public; • handling money, valuables or prescription drugs (e.g. cashiers, pharmacists); 153 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia • carrying out inspection or enforcement duties (e.g. government employees); • providing service, care, advice or education (e.g. healthcare staff, teachers); • working with unstable or volatile persons (e.g. social services, or criminal justice system employees); • working in premises where alcohol is served (e.g. food and beverage staff); • working alone, in small numbers (e.g. store clerks, real-estate agents), or in isolated or low-traffic areas (e.g. washrooms, storage areas, utility rooms); • working in community-based settings (e.g. nurses, social workers and other home visitors); • having a mobile workplace (e.g. a taxicab); and • working during periods of intense organisational change (e.g. strikes, downsizing). 1. 1 Review of Past Studies Healthcare professionals encounter many medical risks while providing healthcare services to individuals and the community (Ozturk & Babacan, 2014). For example, a study by Clements, DeRanieri, Clark, Manno & Kuhn (2005) showed that 35%-80% of all healthcare employees had experienced at least one physical assault in the workplace, whereby the nursing staff is the most exposed group of all. Increased workplace violence towards healthcare professionals was already reported many years ago as a serious issue by several studies (Alessi, 1991; Gates, Fitewater, & Meyer, 1999; Jones, 1985). Healthcare workers are most frequently the object of patients' violent behaviour. However, other employees working with those patients - police officers, security officers, paramedics, nursing home staff - also experience some degree of workplace violence (Clements et al., 2005; Lundstrom, Saveman, Eisemann, & Astrom, 2007). The reported prevalence of workplace injuries in the healthcare field is high; yet, the actual prevalence of injuries in the workplace seems to be even higher since many incidents go unreported (Gates, Gillespie, & Succop, 2011). Some studies report that up to 70% of incidents remain unreported (Stokowski, 2010). The findings of a Swiss study (Hahn et al., 2010) show that in a one-year period 72% of nursing staff had experienced verbal violence, whereas 42% of the nursing staff had encountered physical violence from both patients and visitors. Further, 23% of the nursing staff had suffered physical injuries and 1.4% of them had to take time off for one or several days. The nursing staff was under a lot of distress due to the violent behaviour of patients and visitors (Hahn et al., 2010). According to a Swedish study (Soares, Lawoko, & Nolan, 2000), the majority of respondents (85%) reported having been exposed to violence at some point in their career, with 57% reporting having been victimised in the past 12 months. The results of this study (Soares et al., 2000) also showed that nurses had experienced a high level of indirect threats (48%), direct threats of violence (40%) and violent 152 Branko Gabrovec acts (40%). Forty-five percent of nurses had witnessed violence and threats made toward other staff (Josefsson & Ryhammar, 2010). In Jordan (Albashtawy, 2013), more than three-quarters of study participants (75.8%) had been exposed to at least one form of violence. The number of incidents of verbal violence was approximately five times the number of incidents of physical violence. A study conducted in Hong Kong (Kwok et al., 2006) shows that 76% (95% confidence interval, 72%-80%) of nurses reported different types of verbal abuse (73%), bullying (45%), physical abuse (18%) and sexual harassment (12%). Most (82%) nurses who experienced verbal abuse tended to confide in their friends, family members, or colleagues. Some (42%) ignored the incident altogether. In a Kuwait-based study (Atawneh, Zahid, Al-Sahlawi, Shahid, & Al-Farrah, 2003), 70 out of 81 nurses had experienced verbal insults or threats of imminent violence, while 13 had also been physically attacked during the first year. Helplessness, sadness, anger and feelings of insecurity were the feelings most often experienced by staff encountering violent behaviour (Astrom, Bucht, Eisemann, Norberg, & Saveman, 2002). Physical aggression was more frequently present at nursing homes (83.9% of employees), while verbal violence was more common in psychiatric hospitals (96.7% of employees) (Franz, Zeh, Schablon, Kuhnert, & Nienhaus, 2010). In the United States, the highest incidence of workplace assault can be observed among nursing assistants employed in long-term healthcare settings (Gates et al., 2011). According to a study conducted by Lundstrom et al. (2007), 31% of caregivers (n = 120) had been subjected to violence in the previous year with physical violence being the most frequent category. All types of caregivers were exposed to violence and their reactions were commonly very emotional (Lundstrom et al., 2007). 2 METHODS The descriptive research methodology was used when examining the peer-reviewed literature on violence directed at nursing employees in Slovenia. A systematic literature review was conducted as it enables data to be obtained from various sources and ensures a holistic understanding of the research subject. The literature search was carried out using the following databases: PubMed, Cobiss and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines (Moher et al., 2015). Several combinations of selected search words in the English and Slovenian language and their synonyms were prepared and used with the Boolean operators AND or OR: Nasilje1*() Or Zdravstvena nega2 *() OR Zdravstveni3 *() OR Medicinske sestre4 *() OR Violence *() OR Nursing care *() OR Medical*() OR Nurses *() OR Slovenia *(). We searched in the title, key words and abstract. 1 Nasilje = violence 2 Zdravstvena nega = nursing care 3 Zdravstveni = healthcare 4 Medicinske sestre = nurses 153 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia The criterion for selecting the literature was that articles were published in the last 15 years, namely from 2002 to 2017. Articles concerning violence in nursing care in peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as international documents, standards, guidelines and research studies performed in the EU, were considered for review. Information from editorials, letters, interviews, posters and articles without access to the full text were excluded from the study. Grey documents were identified by means of an opportunistic search, meaning a targeted or focused one. The term grey literature was used to describe information which is not published commercially or is otherwise hard to find, including government reports, NGO reports, theses, technical reports, white papers etc. The process of the literature review is displayed in a search table (Table 1) and in the PRISMA diagram as shown in Figure 1, while the inclusion and exclusion criteria are shown in Table 2. Table 1: Search table Key word No. of hits Chosen hits Final selection PubMed Violence Nursing care 8,995 6 1 Violence Medical Slovenia 3 8 0 Violence Nurses Slovenia 5 3 2 Cobiss Nasilje Zdravstvena nega 55 10 3 Nasilje Zdravstveni 371 6 2 Nasilje Medicinske sestre 0 0 0 Violence Nursing care 61 39 0 Violence Medical 257 58 2 Violence Nurses Slovenia 27 0 0 Cinahl Nasilje 1 1 1 Nasilje Zdravstveni 0 0 0 Nasilje Medicinske sestre 0 0 0 Violence Nursing care 297 46 0 Violence Medical 157 0 0 Violence Nurses Slovenia 13 5 2 Other sources 2 2 10,244 182 15 152 Branko Gabrovec Records identified through database searching (10244/182 selected) Additional records identified through other sources (n =2) Records after duplicates removed (n =118) Records screened (n = 118) Records excluded (n = 86) Figure 1: Flowchart of the search strategy and literature selection process -PRISMA diagram Full-text articles assessed Full-text articles excluded, for eligibility with reasons (n = 32 ) (n = 17) Studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 15) Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria Published in the Slovenian or English language Not published in the Slovenian or English language Full-text accessibility Access only to abstract or bibliographic data Original research scientific article, monography, review scientific article Debate articles, professional articles, letters to the editor Thematic adequacy Paper that is not directly connected with our review Selected words in title, key words and abstract Literature that does not apply to the overall theme Table 2: The inclusion and exclusion criteria 153 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia 3 RESULTS The literature search was performed using three databases: PubMed, Cobiss and Cinahl - grey literature was also included. The total number of all search results was 10,244. After excluding duplicates and taking the inclusion criteria into account, 15 articles/sources finally remained for the analysis. Table 3: Description of studies included in the literature review 152 Author and year Research design Sample (number of respondents) Research purpose Key findings Klemenc & Pahor, 2004 Descriptive research N = 376 Survey in all fields of nursing work To deal with different forms of violence against nurses, nursing technicians and midwives in the workplace in Slovenia 72.3% of nurses had experienced violence, 59% verbal violence, 53% psychological violence, 29% physical violence Planinšek & Pahor, 2004 Descriptive research N = 376 Survey in all fields of nursing work. The article deals with the problem of sexual violence in the workplace 34.8% reported having experienced sexual violence Since most Slovenian health institutions do not have specific protocols for addressing an act of violence, a holistic and systematic approach that includes managers, workers and civil society is required. Babnik, Štemberger Kol-nik, & Kopač, 2012 Quantitative descriptive research N = 692 Survey in all fields of nursing work A focus on describing the forms, frequency and most common perpetrators of psychological violence toward nurses 60.1% had experienced psychological violence. The prevalence of psychological violence established in this research is comparable to the results of previous studies. Košir, 2012 Quantitative descriptive research N = 692 Survey in all fields of nursing work To determine the prevalence and nature of the violence perceived and experienced by nurses, and to identify the primary perpetrators of violence The perpetrators are most commonly the patients (74.8%). Nurses listed different violent acts directed against them at work or on duty, such as punching, kicking, pushing and similar Branko Gabrovec Author and year Research Sample Research Key findings design (number of purpose respondents) Keblič, 2013 Master's thesis N = 177 To identify vio- 98% of nurses had Quantitative Emergency lence committed experienced some research nursing care by patients and form of violence, their relatives in 77% psychologi- emergency nurs- cal violence, 15% ing care physical violence Gabrovec, Er- Quantitative N = 203 To define the types 92.6% of nurses had žen, & Lobnikar, descriptive Intensive psy- and frequency experienced verbal 2014 research chiatric nursing of violence enco- violence, 84.2% care untered by medi- physical violence, cal staff in psychi- 24.6% sexual vi- atric healthcare olence, 63.5% of nurses had been injured in the past Kvas & Seljak, Quantitative N = 692 To explore vio- 60.6% had been 2014 descriptive Survey in all lence in nursing in exposed to violence research fields of nursing primary, second- in the previous work ary and tertiary year, most to psy- healthcare as expe- chological violence rienced by nurses - 60.1%, 28.9% to in Slovenia economic violence, 10.9% to physical violence Jerkič, Babnik & Quantitative N = 62 To study the in- 74.2% had experi- Karnjuš, 2014 research Emergency cidence of verbal enced verbal or units nursing and other forms other forms of care of indirect vio- indirect violence lence on a sample at the workplace, of emergency especially in forms services nursing of verbal indirect care employees, active aggression namely: from family mem- to identify the bers and patients. frequency of expe- The most frequent riencing the vio- reasons for abuse lence, the different are: forms, the most inadequate, over- common crowded waiting perpetrators of rooms (36 re- verbal abuse, sponses) perceived causes and demographic variables of the employees in relation to the hi- gher frequency of detecting violence at work Table 3: Continuation 153 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia Table 3: Continuation Author and year Research design Sample (number of respondents) Research purpose Key findings Vicar, 2015 Master's thesis Cross sectional N = 121 Survey in all fields of nursing work To identify which forms of violence occur in healthcare and who is the one who carries out violence among the workers 72.7% of nurses had experienced some form of violence, 90.8% psychological violence, 46% physical violence Kvas & Seljak, 2015 Quantitative descriptive research N = 692 Survey in all fields of nursing work To study the frequency and degree of violence against nurses and to analyse correlations between various sources and types of violence The most frequent perpetrators of verbal violence were patients (listed as a source of violence by 39.3% of respondents) and peers (39.6%), with the most forceful identified as physicians and patients. Physical violence against nurses was most often initiated by patients (20.8%). Gabrovec, 2015 Quantitative descriptive research N = 246 Nursing care in paramedic services To identify the type of violence suffered by nursing care in paramedic services and the frequency of violence. 78.0% had experienced verbal violence, 49.6% physical violence, 24.4% sexual violence, 26.8% had been injured in their working career Bojic, Bole & Bregar, 2016 Quantitative research N = 197 Intensive psychiatric nursing care and Emergency nursing care To identify the rates of occurrence and types of adverse events perpetrated by patients to which healthcare workers are exposed in emergency and inpatient psychiatric care settings The pervasiveness of aggression in acute psychiatric and other mental health settings has been documented. The health personnel in psychiatric settings experience higher rates of mild patient violence than other respondents. The most vulnerable group includes respondents with a lower education and those working in shifts. Women are more likely to be victims of sexual aggression than men. 152 Branko Gabrovec Author and year Research design Sample (number of respondents) Research purpose Key findings Gabrovec & Eržen, 2016 Quantitative descriptive research N = 527 Nursing staff in Slovenian nursing homes To identify the prevalence of violence towards nursing staff in Slovenian nursing homes 71.7% had been a victim of verbal violence, 63.8% physical violence, 35.5% sexual violence, 35.5% had been injured in their working career Gabrovec, 2017 Quantitative descriptive research N = 337 Nursing care in Community nursing To explore the frequency of violence toward community nurses in Slovenia 56% reported an experience of verbal violence, 3.5% physical violence, 30% sexual violence Gabrovec, Jelenc, Prislan, & Lobnikar, in press Quantitative descriptive research N = 54 Nursing care employees in the Slovenian drug addiction rehabilitation centre network To identify the prevalence of violence towards nursing care employees in the Slovenian drug addiction rehabilitation centre network 85.7% of respondents had experienced verbal violence, 28.6% physical violence, 7.1% sexual violence, 9.5% had been injured in their working career Table 3: Continuation The first systematic research on violence directed at nursing staff in Slovenia was conducted by Klemenc & Pahor (2004). The study revealed the high prevalence of violence, with 72.3% of nurses having experienced some form of violence. Most (59%) had experienced verbal violence and psychological violence (29%). In the same year and using the same sample, Planinšek & Pahor (2004) revealed high exposure to sexual violence (34.8%). Both studies focused on nursing staff working in any field of nursing and both call for specific protocols to be prepared to address acts of violence, namely, a holistic and systematic approach that includes managers, workers and civil society. Two similar studies were carried out in 2012 (Babnik, Štemberger Kolnik, & Kopač, 2012; Košir, 2012). In this research, psychological violence against nurses was little higher (60.1%) and most violence had been perpetrated by patients (74.8%). Among violent acts, the nurses listed punching, kicking, pushing and similar. In two master's theses (Keblič, 2013; Vičar, 2015), we can find different data about the prevalence of violence, where both studies were conducted on smaller samples (N = 177; N = 121). Keblič (2013) found that 98% of nurses had experienced some form of violence, 77% psychological violence and 15% physical violence. Vičar (2015) established that 72.7% of nurses had experienced some form of violence, 90.8% psychological violence and 46% physical violence. Other studies examining nursing staff working in any field of nursing include those carried out by Kvas & Seljak (2014) (60.6% had been exposed to violence in the previous year, mostly psychological violence (60.1%) and economic violence (28.9%)), and Kvas & Seljak (2015) (the most frequent perpetrators of verbal_ 153 Violence Towards Nursing Employees in Slovenia violence were patients (39.3%) and peers (39.6%), with the most forceful being identified as physicians and patients. Physical violence against nurses was most often initiated by patients (20.8%). More targeted research studies were performed in emergency care by Jerkič et al. (2014) and Bojic et al. (2016) in intensive psychiatric nursing care and emergency nursing care. Jerkič et al. (2014) found that 74.2% had experienced verbal or other forms of indirect violence at the workplace, especially in the forms of verbal indirect active aggression from family members and patients. Bojic et al. (2016) established that the health personnel in psychiatric settings had experienced higher rates of mild patient violence than other respondents in emergency care. Several targeted studies with same research tool were conducted between 2014 and 2017 (Gabrovec, 2015, 2017; Gabrovec & Eržen, 2016; Gabrovec et al., 2014; Gabrovec et al., in press). These studies focused on a specific field of nursing: intensive psychiatric nursing care, nursing homes, nursing care in paramedic services, community nursing and nursing care in drug addiction centres. The results of these studies are presented in Table 4. Table 4: Specific forms of violence in different nursing fields Intensive psychiatric nursing care Nursing homes Nursing care in Paramedic services Nursing care in Community nursing Nursing care in the Drug addiction rehabilitation centre network Author Gabrovec et al., 2014 Gabrovec & Eržen,2016 Gabrovec, 2015 Gabrovec, 2017 Gabrovec et al., in press Sample 203 527 246 337 42 Verbal violence* 92.6% 71.7% 78% 56.1% 85.7% Physical violence* 84.2% 63.8% 49.6% 3.5% 28.6% Injury in the past** 63.5% 36.8% 26.8% 3.5% 9.5% Sexual violence* 24.6% 35.5% 24.4% 30% 7.1% ** in whole working career The results show nursing employees are highly exposed to work-related violence, which is considerable in all fields, but especially in intensive psychiatric nursing care where 84.2% of employees had experienced physical violence in the previous year and 63.5% had been injured by a patient in their working career. - 4 DISCUSSION The number of studies looking at violence directed at nursing employees in Slovenia has increased in recent years. All of them point to the high level of exposure to and prevalence of violence, especially in intensive psychiatric nursing _care, nursing homes and nursing care in paramedic services. However, related 152 Branko Gabrovec knowledge is still lacking as we know little about the causes of violence. The results of these research studies are comparable to studies conducted abroad, yet studies differ in their reporting of the prevalence of physical violence. Clements et al. (2005) report a prevalence ranging from 35% to 80% in the previous year, Hahn et al. (2010) report 42% and Franz et al. (2010) report 83% in the previous 12 months. Compared to the rest of the world, the results are only comparable with a study conducted in Sweden (Soares et al., 2000) and another in Turkey (Picakciefe et al., 2012). The frequency of physical violence committed by patients is higher in Slovenia than in either the USA (Clements et al., 2005; Privitera, Weisman, Cerulli, Tu, & Groman, 2005) or Switeerland (Hahn et al., 2010). Further qualitative research is needed to shed light on the detailed characteristics and background of such violence. The strong prevalence of any violence should trigger a systematic and comprehensive reaction. As revealed by the studies, types of violence are interconnected: one violence triggers another and, accordingly, the high prevalence of physical violence against nursing employees in Slovenia also conceals other types of violence. Tackling violence within the healthcare system demands a wide and interdisciplinary approach, as suggested by Lešnik Mugnaioni (2012) and Gabrovec and Lobnikar (2014). 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Nasilje v zdravstveni negi [Violence in nursing care] (Master's thesis). Maribor: Fakulteta za zdravstvene vede. About the Author: Branko Gabrovec, PhD, assistant professor, is a senior researcher at the Centre for Health Care Research, National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia. His research interests encompass ageing, healthy ageing, frailty, quality and safety in health care. E-mail: branko.gabrovec@nijz.si 152