The relationship between workplace violence, perceptions of safety, and Professional Quality of Life among emergency department staff members in a Level 1 Trauma Centre

Abstract

Background: Emergency department staff members are frequently exposed to workplace violence which may have physical, psychological, and workforce related consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between exposure to workplace violence, tolerance to violence, expectations of violence, perceptions of workplace safety, and Professional Quality of Life (compassion satisfaction - CS, burnout - BO, secondary traumatic stress - STS) among emergency department staff members.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to survey all emergency department staff members from a suburban Level 1 Trauma Centre in the western United States.

Results: All three dimensions of Professional Quality of Life were associated with exposure to non-physical patient violence including: general threats (CS p = .012, BO p = .001, STS p = .035), name calling (CS p = .041, BO p = .021, STS p = .018), and threats of lawsuit (CS p = .001, BO p = .001, STS p = .02). Tolerance to violence was associated with BO (p = .004) and CS (p = .001); perception of safety was associated with BO (p = .018).

Conclusion: Exposure to non-physical workplace violence can significantly impact staff members' compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Greater attention should be paid to the effect of non-physical workplace violence. Additionally, addressing tolerance to violence and perceptions of safety in the workplace may impact Professional Quality of Life.

Keywords: Burnout; Compassion fatigue; Compassion satisfaction; Emergency department; Professional Quality of Life; Secondary traumatic stress; Workplace safety; Workplace violence.