The effect of violence prevention strategies on perceptions of workplace safety: A study of medical-surgical and mental health nurses

J Adv Nurs. 2019 Aug;75(8):1657-1666. doi: 10.1111/jan.13950. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Abstract

Aims: To explore associations between specific violence prevention strategies and nurses' perceptions of workplace safety in medical-surgical and mental health settings.

Background: Workplace violence is on the rise globally. Nurses have the highest risk of violence due to the nature of their work. Violence rates are particularly high among USA and Canadian nurses. Although multiple violence prevention strategies are currently in place in public healthcare organizations in British Columbia, Canada, it is unknown whether these approaches are associated with nurses' perceptions of workplace safety.

Design: This is an exploratory correlational design using secondary data.

Methods: Using data obtained from a province-wide survey of nurses between March 2017 - January 2018, this study included 771 nurses from medical-surgical and 189 nurses from mental health settings. Data were analysed using ordinal logistic regressions.

Results: For medical-surgical and mental health nurses, greater perceptions of workplace safety were related to employers listening to them with respect to violence prevention strategies. Nurses in both settings were more likely to feel safe when they were not expected to physically intervene during a code white situation. Medical-surgical nurses were more likely to feel safe when code white incident reviews were conducted and fixed alarms were used. Mental health nurses were more likely to report feeling safe when they had enough properly trained code white responders on their unit.

Conclusion: Nurse-employer engagement is critical to nurses' perceptions of feeling safe at work. Engagement opportunities include nurses' involvement in discussions about appropriate violence prevention strategies, collaborative debriefing after violent incidents and co-development and updates of patients' behavioural care plans.

目的: 探讨特定暴力预防策略与护士对内科、外科和心理健康环境中工作场所安全的认知之间的关系。 背景: 工作场所暴力在全球范围内呈上升趋势。由于护士的工作性质,她们遭受暴力的风险最高。美国和加拿大护士的暴力发生率特别高。尽管加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的公共医疗保健机构目前已经制定了多种暴力预防策略,但尚不清楚这些方法是否与护士对工作场所安全的认知相关联。 设计: 这是一个使用次级数据的探索性相关设计。 方法: 通过采用2017年3月至2018年1月期间的全省护士调查数据,本研究包括771名内外科护士和189名心理健康护理人员。使用了有序逻辑回归法来分析数据。 结果: 对于内外科护士和心理健康护理人员来说,对工作场所安全的进一步认知与雇主在暴力预防策略听取他们的意见有关。因为在代码为白色的情况下,不需要他们采取身体上的干预措施,所以这两种情况下的护士更有可能感到安全。当进行白色代码事件审查和使用固定警报时,内外科护士才更有可能感到安全。当心理健康护理人员所在单位里有足够多训练有素的代码白色急救人员时,他们才更有可能报告感到安全。 结论: 护士与雇主之间的接触对护士对工作安全的认知至关重要。接触机会包括,护士参与讨论适当的暴力预防策略、暴力事件后的协作任务报告以及共同制定和更新患者的行为护理计划。.

Keywords: medical-surgical; mental health; nurses; violence prevention; workplace safety.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attitude of Health Personnel*
  • Canada
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nursing Staff, Hospital / psychology*
  • Occupational Health / statistics & numerical data*
  • Perioperative Nursing*
  • Psychiatric Nursing*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Workplace Violence / prevention & control*
  • Workplace Violence / psychology*
  • Workplace Violence / statistics & numerical data