Assessment of Psychological Consequences of Violence in Psychiatric Nurses

Mamdouh Alamri; Waleed Almalki; Naif T Almagthly; Khalil M Al-Harbi; Mohammad H Almutairi

doi:10.7759/cureus.48025

Assessment of Psychological Consequences of Violence in Psychiatric Nurses

Cureus. 2023 Oct 31;15(10):e48025. doi: 10.7759/cureus.48025. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Mamdouh Alamri¹, Waleed Almalki², Naif T Almagthly³, Khalil M Al-Harbi⁴, Mohammad H Almutairi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Psychiatry, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU.
² Nursing, Erada and Mental Health Complex, Jeddah, SAU.
³ Addiction Treatment and Mental Health, Erada and Mental Health Complex, Jeddah, SAU.
⁴ Medical Services Administration, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, SAU.
⁵ Psychiatric Mental Health, Erada and Mental Health Complex, Jeddah, SAU.

Abstract

Background: Workplace violence, particularly within psychiatric nursing environments, is an emerging concern globally and has been recognized as a significant occupational stressor with considerable psychological consequences, yet it remains underexplored, warranting an in-depth study.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the psychological consequences of violence on psychiatric nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sampling technique was used to select 198 psychiatric nurses working in two hospitals with psychiatric departments in Jeddah. A self-administered questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 22 (IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.).

Results: Out of the 198 psychiatric nurses who participated in the study, 80.8% reported experiencing violence in their workplace, highlighting the need for effective interventions to prevent and manage violence in psychiatric settings. The majority of the participants had a diploma (68.2%), and 54.5% of the nurses had more than 10 years of experience. Among patient-related factors related to violence, drug abuse had the highest mean score of 4.07 (SD=0.89) and was ranked as the most significant factor, while among nursing-related factors, a lower level of experience in psychiatric care had the lowest mean score of 3.43 (SD=1.11) and was ranked as the least important factor. The nurses tended to avoid discussing the traumatic event, as indicated by the highest mean score of 2.10 (SD=1.18) for item 22, "I tried not to talk about it." The mean score for the avoidance subscale of the IES-R was 1.55 (SD=0.78), the highest mean score among the subscales and ranked first in terms of severity.

Conclusion: This study highlighted the significant psychological consequences of violence on psychiatric nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: kingdom of saudi arabia (ksa); psychiatric nurses; psychological consequences; violence; violence prevention.